
Class _3y^_lG^ 

Book BiXVl— 

GopightN" 



COPITRICHT DEPOSm 




By per. of Woman's Board of Home Missions 



UTK INDIANS 



PRESBYTERIAN 
HOME MISSIONS 



An Account of the Home 
Missions of the Presbyterian 
Church in the U. S. A. 



By 
SHERMAN H. DOYLE, D. D., Ph. D. 









PHILADELPHIA 

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION AND 

SABBATH-SCHOOL WORK 

1902 






THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

"Vwo Copiea Rbceiveo 

MAY, 31 1902 

^Copyright entry 

CLASS ^XXc. No. 

COPY B. 



Copyright, 1902, by the Trustees of 
The Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath- 
School Work, 






DEDICATION 



To my hoys 

Cullen Parrish and Sherman Ernest Doyle 

this book 

is affectionately dedicated 



FOKEWOED 

The work of home missions in this country 
has been, in large measure, identical with the 
work of the Church and, accordingly, the history 
of home missions is, in large part, the history of 
the Church. If it is true that the organized 
work ol home missions, as now represented by 
our Board, is only a hundred years old, it is be- 
cause up to the beginning of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, all church work was literally home mis- 
sionary work. To live was to be aggressive. 
The older East was then a frontier region and 
settled pastors were forced to be missionaries or 
they failed. 

Moreover, the truth that foreign missions and 
home missions are one, and not two, has its proof 
in the primitive stages of American Christianity. 
The Indians were aliens though they were the 
aborigines, and Edwards and Brainerd and Whit- 
man were as truly foreign missionaries, as were 
Speer and Loomis among the Chinese of San 
Francisco. 

We shall not be far wrong if we say that, in 
the days before 1802, the. absence of organized 



VI FOREWORD 

committee or board for home missionary work 
was not because of a lack of the spirit of mis- 
sions, but because all work was missionary work 
and all growth was aggressive gain. 

When one comes to think of it, it is strange 
that no history has ever been written embracing 
the whole scope of Presbyterian home missions 
until now. Certainly it is late enough for such a 
record to be given out when our Church is about 
to celebrate the first century mark of her organ- 
ized home missionary endeavor. It is no figure 
of speech that patriotism and home missions are 
inseparably united. Neither can stand, in the 
mind of the Christian citizen, without the other. 
No man can measure the blessings which the 
modern home missionary has brought to the 
making of this country. The direct results are 
mighty and permanent and of primary impor- 
tance ; but, in addition to these, the indirect 
blessings, upon the social life, the intellectual 
spirit, the moral tone, and the public policy, of our 
western communities are beyond measure. 

There is an element of romance in our com- 
mon conception of the life of a foreign mission- 
ary. We think of him, too, as preeminently the 
apostle of hardship and self-sacrifice. I would 
be the last to remove this impression in so far as 
it is true. The spiritual aristocracy of the elect 
of God are largely represented among these 



FOREWORD Vll 

brave and godly and devoted men and women, 
who have left the home-land behind and given 
their lives to the work of laying the foundation 
of the kingdom of God and of Christian civi- 
lization in pagan soil. Theirs to labor and to wait ; 
they often see little outcome from their toil; 
others will see it, for some day it is sure to be 
seen. They build their short lives into a future 
which is seen by faith alone and yet, with un- 
daunted patience and perseverance, they labor on. 
I have seen these devoted brethren in many 
foreign fields, and I know full well how great is 
their faith and devotion. But the home mis- 
sionaries can often match them in hardship and 
loneliness and difficulty of task. They go off to 
Montana or to Arizona and their friends think 
little of their venture. They are "at home." 
" Old Glory " still waves over them in the des- 
erts of E"evada or in the green valleys " where 
rolls the Oregon." They need no meed of praise, 
no word of cheer — and too often they get none. 
The foreign missionary gets his " year off " now 
and then, but our solitary home missionary, 
plodding on year after year, never. I have seen 
something of the life and work of our home 
missionaries in the West, and I believe that for 
hard work and poor pay and small stint of appre- 
ciation and all else which the world and the flesh 
eschew and fain would avoid the home mission- 



Vlll FOEEWOED 

ary in our western states and territories is the 
peer of many of those who are carrying the 
gospel to the far-away heathen. There is a ro- 
mance in the work in either case. They are all 
empire-builders alike. They bring to their work 
a richer tribute than even Cecil Ehodes could 
command. They build themselves into their 
work ; and this is just as true of the missionaries 
of Iowa and Dakota and California, as it is of 
those of Japan and China and the islands of the 
sea. It is the romance of faith and heroism and 
trial and self-sacrifice, but it is also the romance 
of promise and patriotism and service and of the 
crown at last. 

Dr. Doyle has rendered a most valuable service 
in preparing this admirable manual of history of 
Presbyterian home missions. I regret that I 
have not been able to read the proof sheets of 
the entire book, but what I have read confirms 
the favorable judgment which competent critics 
have unqualifiedly pronounced. It will bring 
some very gratifying surprises to those who will 
read it. Few realize the magnitude of our home 
missionary work. The church west of the 
Mississippi, however strong it may be, is a rare 
exception if it was not originally founded or 
some time aided by our Board of Home Missions. 
Dr. Doyle tells us that this Board has planted 
5,600 churches, issued 72,721 commissions, and 



FOREWORD IX 

expended $23,000,000. If this has been the 
record of the nineteenth century, who can fore- 
cast the twentieth ? 

Emerson's often-quoted remark, "America is 
another name for opportunity," was never truer 
than it is to-day ; and the " opportunity " has 
been almost immeasurably expanded in these last 
years. San Francisco is east of the center of our 
possessions and the Stars and Stripes now float 
over non-Christian millions to whom the home 
missionary must be sent. Only the beginning 
has been made ; the work lies ahead. The broad 
work of true patriotism is loyalty to Jesus 
Christ, and the Father of his country left us a 
great truth when he said that public morality 
and private morality must be based upon re- 
ligion. If we are to meet and to discharge our 
world-responsibility, of which we are now hearing 
so much, it will be by a vigorous and faithful, 
and, by the blessing of God, a fruitful prosecu- 
tion of the grand work, of the first century of 
which this book brings us the inspiring record. 

Henry Collin Minton. 

Fhiladelphia, April 2iih, 1902. 



CONTENTS 



THE HOME BOARD 

Presbyterian Church and Missions — Official Steps Toward 
Organized Work — Home Missions in the General As- 
sembly from 1789 to 1816 — Standing Committee Changed 
to Home Board — Division and Reunion, Statistics from 
1879 to 1900— The Woman's Board 3-35 

II 

THE INDIANS — PAST AND PRESENT 

Origin — Form of Grovemment — Character — Religious Views 
and Practices— Is the Indian Dying Out?— Present Dis- 
tribution—The United States Government and the In- 
dians 37-60 

III 

THE INDIANS — MISSIONS 

First Missionary Efforts — The Mayhews — John Eliot — 
First Bible Piinted in America — Quaker Missions — The 
Moravians — Jonathan Edwards, First Presbyterian Mis- 
xi 



XU CONTENTS 

sionary — David Brainerd— Marcus Whitman — Missions, 
East of the Mississippi, Northwest, Southwest — The 
Woman's Board and Indian Schools 61-96 

IV 

THE ALASKANS 

Name and Area— Climate — Natural Characteristics— Native 
Life— Keligion— Eussia in Alaska— United States Pur- 
chase—First Missionaries— Southeastern Missions— In- 
terior Missions— The Woman's Board and Alaska— Dr. 
Jackson— Dr. Young— Governor Brady 97-136 

V 

THE MOEMONS 

Joseph Smith — True Story of the Book of Mormon — His- 
tory of Mormonism — Mormonism Ecclesiastically, Theo- 
logically, Socially and Politically Considered— Missions 
— Presbyterian Missions — Schools in Utah — The Young 
People and the Future of Mormonism 137-165 

YI 

THE MOUNTAINEERS 

Namea— Manner of Life— Characteristics— Ancestry— Mis- 
sions— Schools— Bible Readers 167-199 

YII 

THE MEXICANS 
History of New Mexico — Characteristics of the Mexicans 



CONTENTS xm 

in the United States— First Presbyterian Missionary — 
Mexican Missions — Schools Under the Woman's Board — 
Claims of the Mexicans 201-220 

YIII 

THE FOREIGNERS 

Foreigners in the United States — Present Immigration — 
Clares of Immigrants— Places of Segregation — Results — 
Presbyterian Missions Among Foreigners, 1850 to 1860 — 
1860 to 1870—1870 to 1880—1880 to 1890—1890 to 1900 
—1902 221-241 

IX 

THE ISLANDERS 

Porto Rico— Its History and Characteristics — Presbyterian 
Missions in Porto Rico — Missions in Cuba 243-259 

X 

THE GREAT T»«ST 

Greatness of the West — Religions Needs — Political Im- 
portance — Relation to Evangelization of the World — 
Influence of Home Missions in the Political, Commercial 
and Educational Development of the West— Spiritual 
Influences— Presbyterian Missions in the West . . . 261-282 

XI 

THE SYNODS 

Origin of Synodical Missions — Plans of the Self-supporting 



XIV CONTENTS 

Synods — New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Baltimore, 
Illinois, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Michigan . . 283-306 

XII 

SU3IMARY 

Arguments for Home Missions — Christianism, Presbyter- 
ianism. Patriotism — World-wide Evangelism — Commer- 
cialism — Conclusion 307-318 



I 

IISrTKODUCTIOlSr 



CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTION 

Our Church has been a home mission Church 
from the beginning. Long before there was any 
organized presbytery the pioneer ministers were 
pioneer missionaries to the Indian tribes and to 
the scattered settlers. But from the organization 
of the General Assembly in 1789 it is possible to 
trace a continuous history of missionary activity. 
It makes a most interesting and hitherto largely 
unwritten chapter of the religious development 
of our country. At the time the first Assembly 
convened in Philadelphia the population of the 
country was about only five millions — almost the 
entire number living east of the Alleghany 
Mountains and nearly all of them within a hun- 
dred miles of the Atlantic coast. But the coun- 
try was beginning to be settled ; immigrants 
were coming in increasing numbers from Europe ; 
the line of occupation was pushing slowly into 
the woods of ]N"ew York, Pennsylvania, Yirginia, 
and the Carolinas. The problem before the 
infant Church was to reach those scattered peo- 
ples with the message of the gospel. 

3 



4 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

It is interesting to trace the official steps 
taken by the Assembly in this direction for, as 
is known, until 1802 there was not even a perma- 
nent committee on home missions. All the mis- 
sionary work was done in Assembly by special 
committees or by direct action. Let us briefly 
follow this development. 

The first report of the committee on bills and 
overtures, to the first General Assembly, recom- 
mends " to the respective synods that they take 
order that the presbyteries under their care be 
punctual, in appointing and sending their due 
number of delegates to the General Assembly," 
and the second report of this committee said, 
" that the state of the frontier settlements should 
be taken into consideration and missionaries 
should be sent to them" {Miiiutes, 1789, p. 10). 
A committee of two was appointed to " devise 
such measures as might be calculated to carry 
the mission into execution." The committee 
reported that same afternoon, asking that each 
of the synods be requested to recommend to the 
General Assembly at their next meeting two 
members well qualified to be employed in mis- 
sions on our frontier. They also recommended 
that the several presbyteries be strictly enjoined 
to have special collections made during the pres- 
ent year " for defraying the necessary expenses 
of the missions" {Minutes, 1789, pp. 10, 11). 



INTRODUCTION 5 

This then marks the beginning of systematic 
home mission work. From that year on to the 
appointment of the Permanent Committee on 
Home Missions in 1802 {Minutes, pp. 257, 258), 
there was not a meeting of the General Assem- 
bly at which prominent attention was not given 
to the cause of home missions. 

At the next Assembly (1Y90), in accordance 
with the order of the previous one, " the Synod 
of ITew York and New Jersey recommended the 
Eevs. JSTathan Her and Joseph Hart as mission- 
aries to preach on the frontiers of our country " 
{Minutes, p. 23). The Kev. Dr. George Duffield 
was appointed by the Synod of Philadelphia for 
the same purpose but was removed by death 
almost immediately after his appointment {Min- 
tctes, p. 23). The Synod of Virginia reported 
that it did not have an account of the proceed- 
ings of the Assembly of 1T89 and so "did not 
recommend missionaries according to the order 
of the Assembly, but substantially complied with 
the design of that mission with an arrangement 
of their own at their last meeting" {Minutes, 
pp. 23, 25). At this meeting of the Assembly 
a committee was appointed " to prepare certain 
directions necessary for the missionaries of the 
Assembly in fulfilling the design of their mission 
and to specify the compensation that it would 
be proper to make for their services " {Minutes, 



6 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

p. 23). The stringency with which the Assembly 
insisted on this missionary work being done is 
illustrated by action taken at the same meeting 
in which the Assembly says that as the injunc- 
tion had not been complied with by some of the 
presbyteries they thought it proper to "enjoin 
it upon all presbyteries to give particular atten- 
tion that their congregations raise the specified 
contribution" {Minutes^ p. 24). The records of 
subsequent Assemblies indicate that the matter 
of collections was followed up in the most per- 
sistent way from meeting to meeting. They 
were not advised to take collections for home 
missions, they were required to take them, and 
when such collections were not taken, a reason 
was expected. 

At the Assembly of 1Y91 Mr. Her and Mr. 
Hart, who the previous year had been appointed 
missionaries, made their report {Minutes, p. 45). 
They had each spent three months in the busi- 
ness assigned to them by the Assembly. In JSTew 
York, beginning at Middletown they had gone 
as far as the Oneida nation of Indians and the 
Cayugas round Lake Otsego. In Pennsylvania 
they had visited in the Lackawanna valley, and 
such places as Pittston, Wilkesbarre, and Lacka- 
wanna, are mentioned. In the course of their 
report they declared that in the northern and 
western parts of the State of New York there 



INTEODUCTION 7 

are " great numbers of people and that number 
increasing with amazing rapidity." They there- 
fore suggested that it will be proper to send out 
" one ordained minister as a missionary this year 
in order that the hopes of the pioneers may be 
raised, the ignorant may be instructed, and that 
the foundation of gospel principles may be laid 
in this extensive and growing country in such a 
manner that discipline may be exercised regu- 
larly therein " {Minutes, p. 45). 

In the next year it was recorded that, the 
Synods of Virginia and the Carolinas having 
failed to make report of the measures adopted 
for supplying the frontiers with the ordinances 
of the gospel, a committee was appointed to 
bring in a written account of what had been 
done in these two synods " and the Assembly do, 
moreover, repeat their injunction to those synods 
to send up an annual account of their proceed- 
ings in the premises and of their success to the 
General Assembly " {Minutes, p. 60). 

At the same meeting of the Assembly special 
action was taken requiring that the moneys col- 
lected for the purpose of supporting missionaries 
to the frontiers and which had not yet been 
brought in should, as soon as convenient, be 
transmitted to the treasurer. At this meeting 
there was recognition of the fact that the Synods 
of Yirginia and the Carolinas were supporting 



8 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

their own missionaries. Synodical self-support 
is thus more than a hundred years old and was 
first begun because of the remoteness of the 
synods from the meeting place of the Assembly 
and the difficulty hence of getting into direct 
communication with the Church (Minutes, p. 59). 

This Assembly also adopted a form of com- 
mission for the missionaries to the frontier. It 
certified the ecclesiastical standing of the mis- 
sionary, directed him when to begin his work 
and in what regions to carry it on, and required 
of him " to keep a distinct journal of his prog- 
ress and to make report to the next General 
Assembly " {Minutes, p. 61). 

At every session of the Assembly a good deal 
of time was given to the consideration of the 
missionary work, to the hearing of the reports of 
those who had served as missionaries, to the 
commissioning of brethren for missionary tours, 
and to various instructions to presbyteries and 
synods and communities regarding the need and 
purposes of home mission work. 

The Assembly of 1794 adopted a circular ad- 
dressed to the inhabitants visited by the mis- 
sionaries. In this address the first action look- 
ing to friendly and cooperative relations with 
other denominations was taken. It is in these 
words : " As our aim has not been to proselyte 
from other communities to our denomination, 



INTEODUCTION 9 

we have charged our missionaries to avoid all 
doubtful disputations, to abstain from unfriendly 
censures or reflections on other religious persua- 
sions, and, adhering strictly to the great doctrines 
of our holy religion which influence the heart 
and life in the ways of godliness, to follow after 
the things that make for peace and general edifi- 
cation" {Minutes, p. 91). The Presbyterian 
Church is thus on record at a very early date, as 
she has been on record ever since, in favor of 
friendly and brotherly relations with all other 
denominations. 

How careful the " Fathers " were that the 
missionary activities of the Church should be 
given to the places of greatest need and not 
always or only to points that offered some 
strategic advantage is evident from the action of 
the Assembly in 1795 where one of the mission- 
aries is charged " to confine his labors to such 
settlements and people as may not yet have been 
formed into regular societies and appear unable 
in their present state to make compensation for 
supplies " {Minutes, p. 99). And another is re- 
quired " to be particularly attentive to such 
settlements as are most out of the reach of other 
supplies and to inquire after and visit any such 
as are newly formed if they should appear of 
sufficient consequence " {Minutes, p. 99). 

How strictly the General Assembly dealt with 



10 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

its missionaries has an interesting illustration in 
the Assembly of 1Y96 when it was " Eesolved 
that Mr. Sample has not fulfilled his commission 
according to the directions of the General As- 
sembly, as it appears from his own account that 
he has not pursued the route pointed out to him 
and has preached part of his time in congrega- 
tions which do not come under the description 
of those to which he was limited in his commis- 
sion and that the pay for one month which he 
has already received is a sufiicient compensation 
for his services " {Minutes, pp. 113, 114). 

The Assembly of 1798 took particular action 
regarding the character of the men to be com- 
missioned and the tenor of their preaching and 
other services. It was declared that the mission- 
aries should be "men of ability, piety, zeal, 
prudence, and popular talents." They were also 
to preach the important doctrines of grace, to 
organize churches where opportunity offered and 
administer ordinances and instruct the people 
from house to house and " with the self-denial of 
their Master be wholly devoted to their ministry " 
{Minutes, p. 150). 

The Assembly of 1799 called attention to the 
religious state of the frontiers, the extensive tract 
of country into which thousands of people 
were pouring and the fact that communities 
were calling for a regularly settled minister, for 



INTRODUCTION 11 

which the Assembly should make provision, and 
the congregations were again urged to liberal 
contributions "once or oftener in the year to 
assist it carrying on this benevolent and chari- 
table work " {Minutes^ p. 176). 

This Assembly took an advance step in declar- 
ing "that one or more persons of suitable 
character take up their residence in towns the 
most convenient for the objects of their appoint- 
ment, whose business it should be, beside the 
ordinary duties of missionaries, to receive appli- 
cations from the different settlements in those 
parts of our frontiers ; to attend to the particular 
rising exigencies amongst them ; to be a common 
medium of information; and for aiding and 
directing such missionaries as may be annually 
sent out by the General Assembly " {Minutes, p. 
184). This seems to be the first movement to- 
ward missionary superintendence. Fort Schuy- 
ler on the Mohawk River and Geneva on Seneca 
Lake were suggested as centers for such superin- 
tendence {Minutes^ p. 184). 

The close relation even thus early between our 
General Assembly and the General Association 
of Connecticut is interestingly indicated in one 
paragraph of that Assembly's action in which 
the Eev. Methuselah Baldwin is directed to 
spend three months or more in the vicinity of 
Onondaga " in connection with Mr. Williston, a 



12 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MTSSIONS 

missionary from the General Association of 
Connecticut " {Minutes^ p. 185). 

At the Assembly in 1800 the Eev. Drs. 
Eodgers and McWhorter, who had been ap- 
pointed a committee by the previous Assembly 
to secure resident missionaries, reported, recom- 
mending " the Eev. Jedediah Chapman of the 
Presbytery of New York, as a person well 
qualified to answer the design of the General 
Assembly " {Minutes, pp. 193, 194). He is thus 
the first missionary appointed to have general 
charge of the missionary interests in the district 
round the place of his residence. 

The same Assembly considered a communica- 
tion of the " Corporation " for managing their 
funds and agreed that the following objects de- 
served consideration : " The gospelizing of the 
Indians on the frontiers of our country ; the in- 
struction of negroes, the poor, and those who 
are destitute of the means of grace in various 
parts of this extensive country " ; and that an 
order of men under the character of catechists be 
instituted, from among men of piety and good 
sense but without a liberal education, who might 
"instruct the Indians, the black people, and 
other persons unacquainted with the principles of 
our holy religion." These catechists were not to 
be clothed with clerical functions but were to 
begin preliminary work with a view to preparing 



INTEODUCTION 13 

the way for the ordained minister. It was, how- 
ever, decided that no catechists be sent out till 
further order of the Assembly {Minutes, pp. 195, 
196, 197). 

The same Assembly however later took action 
allowing the Synod of Virginia " to appoint one 
or more catechists to labor among the Indians if 
it is thought expedient " {Minutes, p. 207). The 
Assembly also took specific action with reference 
to the commissioning of " a stated missionary on 
the northwestern frontiers," giving the scope 
and character of his service and making him the 
medium of "communicating to the settlements 
and the Indian tribes such information as the 
Assembly may wish to communicate." Eev. 
Jedediah Chapman accepted this commission 
{Minutes, pp. 208, 209). 

The first specific action with reference to the 
missionary relation of our Church and the Con- 
gregational Church was taken in the Assembly 
of 1801 when regulations were adopted to pro- 
mote union and harmony between the mission- 
aries of these two bodies. They are enjoined 
" to promote a spirit of accommodation between 
those inhabitants of the new settlements who 
hold the Presbyterian, and those who hold the 
Congregational, form of church government" 
{Minutes, p. 224). This action was the first 
draft of the " Plan of Union " to provide that 



14 PRESBYTERIAIS' HOME MISSIONS 

Congregational churches might settle Presby- 
terian ministers and the reverse, and that if the 
congregation consisted partly of Congregation- 
alists and partly of Presbyterians this fact should 
be no obstruction to their uniting in one church 
and settling a minister, and that in such case a 
standing committee of the communicants should 
be the spiritual leaders of the congregation. 

There is also a record in the Minutes of the 
same Assembly of action which was taken con- 
cerning a communication sent from the Church 
of Scotland regarding certain moneys that had 
been collected there for the education of the In- 
dians in America. The action of the Assembly 
was as follows : " That although the fervent 
zeal for the conversion of the heathen which dic- 
tated such communication is highly laudable, yet 
from all the information which can be obtained 
on the subject, they cannot think that any at- 
tempt at present, by this Assembly, to obtain 
said moneys, would be consistent with propriety 
and decency " {Minutes^ pp. 226, 227). This ac- 
tion of the Assembly means, that the Church not 
having the men necessary wisely to avail them- 
selves of the fund, it would not be proper for 
them to receive it. 

The Synod of Virginia at the same meeting, 
still conducting its own work on the western side 
of the Alleghany Mountains, reported (Minutes^ 



INTRODUCTION 15 

p. 224), that they had sent out during the year six 
missionaries. Their report contains the inter- 
esting information that a young Indian whom 
they had brought with them on their return 
from their mission to Detroit "now appears seri- 
ously exercised about the great concerns of his 
immortal soul." The commission of the Synod of 
Virginia also reported having opened a subscrip- 
tion and " having a prospect of obtaining some- 
thing considerable toward preaching the gospel 
on the frontier settlements and among the In- 
dians " {Minutes^ p. 224). 

At this meeting of the Assembly in 1801 we 
have the first record of a permanent fund for 
missionary work. The Trustees of the Assembly 
reported recommending that the moneys obtained 
as the result of soliciting contributions for the 
support of missionaries should be regarded as 
capital stock to be invested in secure and perma- 
nent funds for missionary purposes; that the 
proceeds of it should be employed in " propagat- 
ing the gospel among the Indians, in instructing 
the black people, and purchasing pious books to 
be distributed among the poor, or in maintain- 
ing, when the Assembly shall think themselves 
competent to the object, theological schools, and 
for such other pious and benevolent purposes as 
may hereafter be deemed expedient." They also 
determined to appoint agents to solicit donations 



16 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

and ask the presbyteries to do the same. The 
first use of these funds, however, was to be for 
increasing the number of missionaries and ex- 
tending the blessing of the gospel by their labors 
through a greater scope of country {Minutes, pp. 
228, 229, 230). 

The Assembly suggested the propriety of en- 
joining upon missionaries the importance of set- 
tling the gospel ministry among the settlements 
where they were to labor and also urged upon 
all the frontier people the necessity of contribut- 
ing to the support of their missionaries. The 
missionaries were instructed to inquire particu- 
larly about the small settlements, which, on ac- 
count of their obscurity or infancy, might have 
been hitherto overlooked and neglected by former 
missionaries {Minutes, p. 231). It is thus evident 
that the Assembly was determined not only upon 
developing self-supporting power in the more 
settled communities where the missionaries were 
laboring, but also seeking those which could 
make no return and which perhaps had but 
little prospect of large results but which ap- 
pealed to them because of their "obscurity or 
infancy." 

We come now to the Assembly of 1802 and to 
the steps there taken for organizing a Permanent 
Committee on Home Missions. It was resolved 
that there should be a Standing Committee on 



INTEODUCTION 17 

Missions consisting of seven members — four 
clergymen and three laymen, whose duty it 
should be to collect information relative to mis- 
sions and missionaries, to designate the places 
where missionaries should be employed, corre- 
spond with them and with other persons on mis- 
sionary business, to nominate missionaries to the 
Assembly, to hear the reports of missionaries, and 
generally to transact under the direction of the 
Assembly the missionary business {Minutes, pp. 
257, 258, 259). It will be seen that this Perma- 
nent Committee during the recess of the Assem- 
bly had practically the powers of a missionary 
Board. This was then the beginning of the or- 
ganized home mission work of the Presbyterian 
Church. Heretofore it had been conducted di- 
rectly by action of the Assembly, each appoint- 
ment being a particular item of Assembly busi- 
ness. Henceforth the work would be conducted 
by a Permanent Committee which would report 
to the Assembly at each of its sessions {Minutes, 
1802, pp. 250, 257, 258). 

At the next meeting of the Assembly, in 1803, 
when the Assembly called on presbyteries to re- 
port on missionary matters, the presbyteries re- 
plied that they supposed the whole missionary 
business had been given to the Standing Com- 
mittee and that they had given to that body the 
information in their possession. The Assembly 



18 PKESBYTERIAIT HOME MISSIONS 

approved the conduct of the presbyteries in mak- 
ing communications directly to the Standing 
Committee and ordered "that the presbyteries 
in future report on this subject to the Committee 
of Missions only ; and make their reports so early 
as to enable the said committee to avail them- 
selves of the information and present the result 
to the General Assembly from year to year" 
{Minutes, p. 269). 

This is precisely the course that is taken now 
with reference to the Board of Home Missions. 
The presbyteries report directly to the Board 
and the Board makes its report to the General 
Assembly. Further action taken at the same 
meeting indicated that whatever instructions 
were given to missionaries should be given in 
the name of the Committee of Missions, stating, 
however, that they had the approval of the As- 
sembly and that the committee should have 
power on any emergency to issue new instruc- 
tions to the missionaries suited to the occasion 
{Minutes, p. 273). 

The Assembly arranged for keeping out of 
debt by resolving that there ought to be no an- 
ticipation of the funds in the future. In other 
words that " appropriations ought not to be made 
in any year beyond the amount which the funds 
arising in that year will be sufficient to satisfy." 
There is also record that year of the appointment 



INTRODUCTION 19 

of the Ee\r. Gideon Blackburn as missionary to the 
Cherokee Indians in Tennessee — the beginning 
of a most useful and remarkable missionary 
career. How close to the border was the mis- 
sionary ground of our Church in 1803 is illus- 
trated by the fact that the Standing Committee 
of Home Missions that year was vested with dis- 
cretionary power to send missionaries the ensuing 
year to IS'orfolk, in Virginia, to the city of "Wash- 
ington, to the Genesee and Sparta, in Ontario 
County, State of !N"ew York, " if it can be done 
without embarrassing the funds " (Minutes^ pp. 
280, 281). 

At that time they were also beginning to hope 
that they might be able to avail themselves of 
the fund in Scotland for converting the Indians 
of ^North America, for they instructed their com- 
mittee to " procure the whole, or such part thereof 
as may comport with the views of the society." 
It is to be noticed that the missionaries sent out 
at this time to the western regions, some of them 
as far as " Mississippi Territory " were those who 
had pastoral charges, and that they might prose- 
cute their labors without anxiety, their places 
in their pulpits were regularly and fully sup- 
plied by the direction of the General Assembly 
{Minutes, p. 281). 

From 1803 a considerable part of the record 
of each General Assembly is occupied with home 



20 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

missionary appointments and resolutions relating 
to missionary subjects. 

In 1804 the presbyteries are recognized in the 
direction of home mission labors, as for example : 
Kev. Dr. James Hall was appointed a missionary 
for six months, three of which were to be spent in 
the Presbytery of Washington under the direction 
of that presbytery or their standing committee. 
The missionaries at this time were receiving 
$33.33 per month for their service. The increase 
of attention to the Indian work is illustrated in 
that year by the fact that $200 was appropriated 
to the schoolmaster employed by Mr. Blackburn 
in teaching the Indian youth {Minutes, p. 313). 

The Assembly in 1805 makes the interesting 
statement " that Mr. James Hoge, a licentiate of 
the Presbytery of Lexington, serve as a mission- 
ary for six months in the State of Ohio and the 
Natchez district." A pretty large commission 
for one young man, but it was the beginning of 
a service that was to tell mightily on the regen- 
eration of the State of Ohio {Minutes, p. 344). 

The westward movement of population had 
now become so decided that in 1806 missionaries 
were sent not only to Virginia and Maryland but 
to Connecticut, and to the " Indiana Territory." 
Mr. Hoge is again employed as a missionary at 
this time " for three months in the State of Ohio 
and parts adjacent." This year also there is 



INTRODUCTION 21 

progress in the work araong the Cherokee Indi- 
ans. Kev. Gideon Blackburn, a home missionary- 
hero of that Southwest, Avas employed for two 
months in missionary service and $500 was ap- 
propriated for the support of the Indian school 
instituted by him. In this year also the authority 
of the Rev. Jedediah Chapman was somewhat 
increased. He was given a commission without 
designating the time of service and was at the 
end of the year to report to the Committee of 
Missions as to the time actually spent, and he 
was also authorized, " with the concurrence of the 
Presbytery of Geneva, to employ two mission- 
aries for two months each to perform missionary 
service under his direction" {Minutes^ pp. 367, 
368, 369). 

The year 1807 marks the appointment of a 
missionary in the county of St. Lawrence and up 
to the Canadian line and the stationing of mis- 
sionaries at various points from New Jersey to 
Yincennes, Ind. There is also the record of the 
appropriation of $500 for the use of the Hy wassee 
school in the Cherokee country. This is the school 
which the Eev. Gideon Blackburn had started. 
There was also an appropriation of $200, should 
the funds permit, for the support of Indian mis- 
sions under the care of the Synod of Pittsburg 
{Minutes, pp. 390, 391). The next year, 1808, 
the appropriation to the Hy wassee school was 



22 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

continued at $500, and the amount appropriated 
to the Synod of Pittsburg for the support of 
Indian missions was increased to $400, if the 
funds should warrant when other missionary ap- 
propriations had been honored {Minutes, p. 406). 

The Assembly of 1809 enjoined all presby- 
teries and synods on no account to interfere with 
the instructions given by the Committee of Mis- 
sions to missionaries and recommended that the 
interests of the missionary cause would be pro- 
moted by publishing more extensively the report 
of the Committee of Missions {Minutes, p. 427). 

The work was now steadily pushing westward 
and the reports in the Assembly showed an in- 
creasing number of commissions through the 
State of Ohio to Indiana and one to upper 
Louisiana. 

The year 1809 marks an advance also in mis- 
sionary administration by giving authority to 
presbyteries to employ missionaries within their 
own bounds at such places as seemed to them to 
have the greatest need of missionary labors. 
The need of an increasing number of missionaries 
pressed itself upon this Assembly and the pres- 
byteries were called upon " to inquire for poor 
and pious young men who may promise useful- 
ness in the gospel ministry and are willing to de- 
vote themselves to it and raising a fund for their 
education." The first missionary periodical was 



INTRODUCTION 23 

authorized by the Assembly in 1810 when the 
Committee of Missions was directed " annually 
to prepare and publish for the information of the 
churches a pamphlet or pamphlets entitled ' Mis- 
sionary Intelligence'" {Minutes^ pp. 418, 428, 
451). 

During these years there was not a meeting of 
the Assembly without special mention of the 
needs of the Indian and a strengthening purpose 
to do the best that was possible with the funds 
on hand for their evangelization. 

The missionary life of the Kev. John Doak 
had so much to do with the development of Ten- 
nessee that it is interesting to record his com- 
mission issued in 1812: " A missionary for six 
weeks, commencing his route at Fincastle, and 
proceeding thence on missionary ground to 
Greeneville in East Tennessee." In that same 
year it was reported that " the ' Missionary Intelli- 
gence ' ordered to be published by the preceding 
Assembly had not been able to sell many copies 
and recommended the gratuitous distribution of 
the remaining copies among the presbyteries." In 
that same year the Synod of the Carolinas re- 
quested the General Assembly to take up the 
direction of missionary business within their 
bounds. This was agreed to and the Assembly 
was urged to make all exertions to increase the 
permanent and contingent funds of the Assembly 



24 PRESBYTEEIAIS- HOME MISSIONS 

for the support of missions {Minutes, pp. 506, 
607, 608, 609). 

At the same Assembly there was also consid- 
ered a communication from the American Board 
of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in which 
the Board had suggested the expediency of co- 
operation between the two missionary agencies. 
To this our Assembly replied that " as the busi- 
ness of foreign missions may probably be best 
managed under the direction of a single Board, 
so the numerous and extensive engagements of 
the Assembly in regard to domestic missions, 
renders it extremely inconvenient at this time to 
take a part in foreign missions." They go on to 
say that they may the rather decline these mis- 
sions, " inasmuch as the committee are informed 
that missionary societies have lately been insti- 
tuted in several places within the bounds of the 
Presbyterian Church " {Minutes, pp. 614, 616). 

The Assembly of 1813 makes the interesting 
statement that the salaries of the missionaries 
shall be $40 per month {Minutes, p. 636). 

In 1814 a committee was appointed to petition 
Congress for a tract of land to assist in conduct- 
ing a mission to the Indians. Should the Gov- 
ernment decline the request the committee was 
empowered to purchase a section of land {Min- 
utes, p. 666). 

In 1816, the year before the organization of 



INTRODUCTION 25 

the Board of Missions, the appointment of mis- 
sionaries covered the distance extending from 
Lake Champlain and the Canadian line on the 
north and from Long Island and the Delaware 
Kiver on the east to the Indiana Territory on 
the west and Kentucky and Tennessee on the 
south {Ifinutes, pp. 586, 587, 588). 

In 1816 the report of the committee to con- 
sider whether the question of changing the 
Standing Committee of Missions to a Missionary 
Board represented the great increase of popula- 
tion in the West, the demand for missionary 
labors far exceeding the ability of supply, and 
that it was necessary to make larger plans for 
the carrying on of the work. Therefore, it was 
recommended that the Committee of Missions be 
erected into a Board " with full power to transact 
all the business of the missionary cause, only re- 
quiring the Board to report annually to the Gen- 
eral Assembly." The full title was " The Board 
of Missions acting under authority of the Gen- 
eral Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
United States." They were authorized to ap- 
point missionaries whenever they may deem it 
proper ; to make such advances to missionaries 
as may be judged necessary ; to take measures 
for establishing throughout our churches auxiliary 
missionary societies and generally to conduct the 
work of home missions in all its phases. As the 



26 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

expediency of the Home Board also doing foreign 
missionary work had been brought to the atten- 
tion of the committee they reported that " they 
are inclined to believe that the union of foreign 
with domestic missions, would produce too great 
complexity in the affairs of the Board, and ren- 
der the pressure of business too severe and bur- 
densome " ; and they suggest instead the forming 
of a foreign missionary society composed of mem- 
bers belonging to our own Church and to the 
Keformed Dutch Church, the Associate Eeformed 
Church, and other churches which have adopted 
the same creed {Minutes, pp. 632, 633). 

The Board of Missions as thus organized con- 
sisted of Kev. Drs. Ashbel Green, Archibald 
Alexander, J. P. Wilson, J. Janeway, T. H. 
Skinner, G. C. Potts, D. Higgins, James Coe, 
James Eichards, K. Cathcart, E. McCurdy, J. H. 
Kice, James Blythe, K. G. Wilson, James Hall, 
Andrew Flinn, J. K. Komeyn, and Samuel Miller, 
with elders Boudinot, Hazard, Conelly, Haslet, 
Smith, Bayard, Kalston, Lenox, Kodgers, Cald- 
well, Bethune, and Lewis {Minutes, pp. 607, 633). 

We have followed thus somewhat in detail the 
development of our missionary work from the 
organization of the General Assembly onward to 
1816, because that period has not hitherto been 
so connectedly presented and it seemed desirable 
in a book giving the development and extension 



INTRODUCTION 27 

of the home mission work of our Church that 
these early records should be thus compiled. 

After the organization of the Board in 1816 
the work grew rapidly in every direction. The 
stream of population began to flow into the 
central and western parts of the country ; Ohio 
was rapidly opening up; it had already many 
strong settlements ; Tennessee and Kentucky 
which had received the sturdy pioneers from the 
Carolinas and Virginia in the end of the eight- 
eenth century were receiving the impress of our 
missionaries and our teachers. 

In 1825 the Erie Canal was completed and the 
tide of population flowed into the States of 
Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. These settlers 
were an earnest and, as a rule, godly class of 
pioneers. They longed for the preaching of the 
gospel. In 1826, to meet the increasing demand, 
the American Home Missionary Society was 
formed. Its board of directors was composed of 
Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Dutch 
Keformed, ministers and laymen. The field of 
its operations was first in New England and in 
New York State and the Presbyterian churches 
and ministers in that field gave their adhesion 
largely to this society, soliciting funds from its 
treasury. 

At the division of the Church in 1839 the New 
School branch of the Church continued its adhe- 



28 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

sion to the Home Missionary Society. The 
Board of Missions remained in connection with 
the Old School branch and has been the channel 
for the missionary work of that Church to the 
present time. In 1857 the name of the Board 
was changed to " The Trustees of the Board of 
Domestic Missions of the General Assembly of 
the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
America." Differences of opinion arising be- 
tween certain presbyteries and the American 
Home Missionary Society the matter was 
brought before the General Assembly and in 
1855 the Assembly appointed the Church Exten- 
sion Committee which was recommended to the 
confidence and cooperation of the churches 
under the care of the 'New School General As- 
sembly. The disagreements, however, between 
the missionary societies continued and in 1861 the 
New School General Assembly assumed the whole 
responsibility of conducting the work of home 
missions within its bounds and constituted the 
Presbyterian Committee of Home Missions. 
The reports of the American Home Missionary 
Society not distinguishing between Presbyterian 
and Congregational missionaries, there is no way 
of determining how much of the good work of 
that society was the work of Presbyterian 
ministers. 

The reunion of the two organizations in 1870 



INTRODUCTION 29 

after a separation of a whole generation was the 
occasion of uniting the Board of Home Missions 
and the Committee of Missions under the legal 
name of " The Board of Home Missions of the 
Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
America." It was incorporated by act of the 
Legislature of the State of JSTew York, April 19, 
1872. The General Assembly appointed the 
following members of the Board : — 

Ministers. Laymen. 

George L. Prentiss, D. D. Edward A. Lambert. 

John Hall, D. D. _ Jacob Vermilye. 

Thomas S. Hastings, D. D. George W. Lane. 

Jonathan F. Stearns, D. D. Thomas C. M. Paton. 

William C. Roberts, D. D. Joseph F. Joy. 

Henry J. Van Dyke, D. D. Aaron B. Belknap. 

William H. Hornblower, D. D. John Taylor Johnston. 

George R. Lockwood. 



They designated Nevv^ York city as the center 
of operations of the new Board. Since the re- 
union the growth and success of home missions 
have been such as to call forth constant gratitude 
to God. 

The Board has now nearly fourteen hundred 
missionaries. They are scattered from the top 
of Alaska to Porto Kico. The following figures 
give an idea of the progress of the Church during 
the century we have reviewed. 



30 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

At the organization of the Assembly the 
Presbyterian element of our country was repre- 
sented by 177 ministers, 111 licentiates, 419 con- 
gregations, 20,000 communicants. 

In 1810 there were 434 ministers, 772 churches, 
28,901 communicants. 

In 1820 there were 741 ministers, 1,299 
churches, 72,096 communicants. 

In 1837, before division, there were in the 
United States 23 synods, 135 presbyteries, 2,140 
ministers, 2,865 churches, 222,557 communicants. 

In 1870, after reunion, there were 51 synods, 
173 presbyteries, 4,238 ministers, 4,626 churches, 
446,561 communicants. 

In 1900 our own General Assembly reported 
32 synods, 232 presbyteries, 7,467 ministers, 7,750 
churches, 1,007,689 communicants. 

In 1900 the whole Presbyterian element of 
the country was represented approximately by 
12,000 ministers, 16,157 churches, 1,600,000 com- 
municants. 

In 1800 there was one member of the Presby- 
terian Church to every 260 of our population. 

In 1900 there was one communicant of the 
Presbyterian Church to every 48 of our popula- 
tion. 

The Board of Home Missions has had a con- 
spicuous share in this development. It is esti- 
mated that there have been 6,600 churches 



INTRODUCTION 31 

planted and aided to self-support. In all 72,Y21 
commissions have been issued. The first annual 
collection reported to the Assembly amounted to 
about $tl:00. The amount raised during the 
ecclesiastical year which has just closed is 
$804,400. In all about $23,000,000 have been 
expended in the work from the beginning. 

Woman's Work for Home Missions. 

The first conference having reference to the 
organization of a Woman's Board of Home Mis- 
sions was held in Chicago in 1870. Three or 
four years before this a Woman's Missionary 
Society was formed in Auburn, New York, to fur- 
nish the ignorant Eomanists of ]S"ew Mexico with 
religious teachers and raise funds for their sup- 
port. It was called the " Santa Fe Association " 
and was made auxiliary to the Union Missionary 
Society, of which Mrs. Doremus was president. 

After some time it was discovered that a de- 
nominational organization was desirable. The 
Presbyterians therefore formed the " E'ew Mex- 
ico, Arizona and Colorado Missionary Associa- 
tion." Meantime to the missionaries sent by the 
Home Board to the Indians, Spanish-speaking 
people of Colorado and ITew Mexico, as well as 
to the Mormons, it soon became evident that if 
these people were reached at all it must be 
through their children. These facts were pre- 



32 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

sented by the Board to the Assemblies of 1872, 
'73, '74 with the request that something be done 
to enable it to carry the gospel to these excep- 
tional populations. 

In 1875 the Board appointed a committee to 
prepare a plan for the cooperation of the women 
with the Board. On January 26, 1876, a plan 
was adopted by the Board recommending that 
the sessions and presbyteries supervise and pro- 
mote the organization of woman's societies, and 
send their funds direct to the Board's treasury. 
In December, 1877, the school work among the 
exceptional populations was formally undertaken 
by the Board. The first teachers were com- 
missioned by the Board December 24, 1877, — 
sixteen of them with salaries amounting to 
$5,400, which amount it was hoped the women 
of the Church would contribute. 

The necessity of a Woman's Home Missionary 
Society soon became evident and a convention of 
women interested iu home missions was called 
during the sessions of the Assembly in Pittsburg 
in 1878. At this convention a committee of 
twelve women was appointed, representing vari- 
ous parts of the country. This committee after 
failing to secure the cooperation of the Ladies' 
Board of Missions of 'New York appealed to the 
Board of Home Missions to suggest at its meet- 
ing, October 7, 1878, various objects for which 



INTRODUCTION 33 

the women should work and also suggested that 
the various committees of the synods, as soon as 
possible after their appointment, bring them- 
selves into sympathy and cooperation by the ap- 
pointment of a general executive committee, who 
should be their organ of communication with the 
Board. 

On December 12, 1878, the synodical com- 
mittees met in the Bible House and organized 
the "Woman's Executive Committee of Home 
Missions " and adopted plans and regulations for 
work. The work was inaugurated December 17, 
1878. The duties undertaken by them were : 
To diffuse information regarding mission work ; 
to unify, as far as possible, woman's work for 
home missions ; to raise money for teachers' sal- 
aries and for general home mission purposes ; to 
superintend thie preparation and distribution of 
home missionary boxes and to secure aid and 
comfort for home missionaries and missionary 
teachers in special cases of affliction or destitu- 
tion. 

In 1897 its title was changed from the 
" Woman's Executive Committee of Home Mis- 
sions " to the " Woman's Board of Home Mis- 
sions." During the last few years this Board 
has undertaken the support of missionaries who 
are laboring in connection with the schools which 
are supported by the Woman's Board among the 



31: PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

exceptional populations. The growth of the 
work may be indicated by the following statistics : 

Amount reported for first year $3,138 

Amount reported for 1901 $289,800 

Whole amount raised from beginning . . $3,500,000 

Number of schools in 1901 138 

Number of teachers in 1901 , 425 

Number of scholars in 1901 9,337 

The history of the home mission work of our 
Church here outlined is thus seen to be coexten- 
sive with the country. It extends now from 
Point Barrow, the northernmost point in Alaska, 
to Cuba and Porto Rico, in the Caribbean Sea. 
The scope of it is an endeavor to reach all classes 
of the heterogeneous population of our country. 
To that end there are missions among the for- 
eigners who have come to us from abroad ; to the 
Indians who held first title to our wide domain ; 
to the mountaineers who had been passed by in 
the march of civilization ; to the new states and 
territories of the rapidly developing West ; to the 
Mexicans in the Southwest and the Mormons in 
the valleys between the Rockies and the Sierra 
Nevadas ; and latterly to the inhabitants of the 
new islands that have been brought either 
under our flag or in close relations with our 
country. 

It is the purpose of this book to give a brief 
account of the work in each of these departments 



INTRODUCTION 35 

and it is commended to the thoughtful attention 
of all who are interested in the development of 
our Church and the extension of the kingdom of 
Christ in our country. 



II 

THE IISTDIANS— PAST Al^B PEESEITT 



CHAPTER II 

THE INDIANS — PAST AND PRESENT 

" There is no good Indian hut a dead Indian^'' 
has almost become a proverb. But a study of 
this historic race from the standpoint of Presby- 
terian Missions will prove the injustice of this 
estimate of the Indian character and will show 
conclusively that it is possible for an Indian to be 
both good and alive. 

This study, however, must begin with his be- 
ginning, and be placed in its proper setting in 
his entire life — past, present, and future. 

The American Indian of the past forms an 
intensely interesting subject of study. His re- 
mote past is shrouded in deep mystery. He is 
the "original inhabitant" of America. That 
said, all is said about his origin. Whence, when, 
or how, he came to American shores, no one can 
answer. Some believe that he came from Europe, 
others that he dwelt originally in eastern Asia, 
and still others that in him we have the ten lost 
tribes of Israel ! The theory that he came from 
northeastern Asia is the most plausible and the 
most popular; buc the entire subject is one of 

39 



40 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIOISTS 

speculation. When Columbus came to America 
he was here, with every appearance of having 
been here from remote antiquity. Thus far our 
certain knowledge goes and no farther. 'Nor is 
it ever likely now to go beyond this. 

The form of government of the American In- 
dian races was tribal. The number of tribes was 
very great and many of them were widely sepa- 
rated in distance and distinct in language and 
customs. The Indian languages have been esti- 
mated at not less than two hundred. These 
languages " were alike in general structure, the 
difference arising from the lack of a written lan- 
guage ; and from the wandering of the tribes, it 
became impossible for one tribe to understand 
another." The tribes were governed by their 
own laws, and by their own chief or chiefs, who 
were called " sachems." They spent their time 
in wandering about from place to place and were 
usually engaged in hunting or fighting. They 
lived in tents made of skins of animals and the 
bark of trees. Their tents were called " wig- 
wams," the meaning of which is "his house." 
The men or " braves " were usually occupied as 
huntsmen or warriors. The women, who were 
called " squaws," performed the manual labor of 
the camps. This arrangement, however, consid- 
ering their manner of life, was not such an un- 
natural one. The Indian woman was not a slave 



THE INDIA:f^S — PAST AND PRESENT 41 

or a chattel ; and in some civilized countries, the 
women have performed as difficult physical la- 
bors as did the Indian women. 

The character of the American Indian has 
been variously estimated. James Fenimore 
Cooper, in his matchless Indian stories, has 
idealized him and has described him as capable 
of being inspired by lofty motives and of per- 
forming heroic and self-sacrificing deeds. On 
the other hand, there have been those who have 
scarcely found language in which to express 
their opinion of the cruelty and treachery of the 
Indian character. The golden mean is perhaps 
the better estimate. Like all other races, the 
Indian was a mixture of both good and evil, and 
was capable of performing both heroic and dia- 
bolical deeds. One of his strongest propensities 
was a passion for war, and his false and bar- 
barous principles of warfare account for most that 
is unlovely and condemnable in his character. 

The religious life of the Indian was most 
marked. His "untutored mind saw God in the 
cloud and heard him in the wind." He called his 
deit}^ the " Great Spirit." But in addition to the 
Great Spirit, he saw " indwelling spirits in every- 
thing, and this gave vitality to his descriptions, 
and made his nature stories very poetical, both in 
idea and language." The Dakotas called meteors 
" spirits flying through the air," and described 



42 PRESBYTEEIATT HOME MISSIONS 

the Milky Way as " the track along which the 
celestial huntsman finds his prey." The Indian 
also believed in a future life, his " happy hunting 
grounds " beyond the grave. His forms of wor- 
ship were fanciful and crude, yet contained the 
germs of truth. Prayer was a common thing 
among them. Fasting as a religious duty was 
observed by many tribes. Some also had special 
times of consecration. The eighth year of a 
Dakota boy was marked by such a service. At 
break of day he went alone to some hilltop 
where he spent the day with the Great Spirit. 
He ate no food, and had no companionship, but 
spent the day in meditation, and at intervals 
would pray, " O "Wakondab, have pity on me, 
and make me a great man." At the age of 
sixteen years this period of meditation and fast- 
ing lasted over two days, and at eighteen j^ears 
it lasted for four days. The primitive Indian 
had also his days of thanksgiving and of special 
sacrifice to the Great Spirit. A beautiful story, 
illustrative of this fact, is told of Tecaughre- 
tanego, an old Delaware chief, who lived in what 
is now the State of Ohio. Having recovered from 
a serious sickness of many weeks, he went outside 
his lodge, built a fire before the door of his wig- 
wam, and laid thereon his single leaf of tobacco. 
Then he bowed his head and offered this prayer : 
" O Great Spirit, this is my last leaf of tobacco. 



THE INDIANS — PAST AND PRESENT 43 

and I know not where I shall get another. 
Thou knowest how fond I am of tobacco, but I 
freely give this last leaf to thee and I thank thee 
for restoring me to health once more." 

A peculiar phase of the religious life of the 
Indians was their dances. These undoubtedly 
partook of a religious character. The principal 
ones were the Fire Dance, Snake Dance, Sun 
Dance, and Ghost Dance. The Fire Dance was 
in honor of the god of fire. It was begun with 
great ceremonies by the medicine man, and was 
practiced by the Apaches and Navajoes. The 
Snake Dance was peculiar to the Moquis of 
Arizona and was characterized by the handling 
and worship of snakes. The Sun Dance was a 
custom of the Sioux, and at the time of its cele- 
bration they feasted on prepared poppy. The 
Ghost Dance, common to many tribes, was cele- 
brated before entering upon the warpath. 

The prophet and priest of the Indian religion 
was the medicine man. He was all powerful 
among them. Any young brave who had the 
" gift " could aspire to this influential position. 
The presence of the " gift " was proven by the 
endurance of severe physical tests, fasts, vigils, 
surviving poisonous snake bites, and the dread- 
ful sweat bath. The medicine man, when in 
official regalia, ceased to be a mere man and be- 
came the embodiment and personification of all 



4:4 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

the powers which he represented. This regalia 
consisted of a medicine shirt, a medicine hat, a 
sacred belt, and a mask, which inspired great 
dread. The medicine shirt was made of buck- 
skin covered with symbolical figures. No one 
was allowed to see the medicine belt or cord be- 
cause of its sacredness. It is sometimes found 
on the braves after death. The medicine hat 
was likewise very sacredly esteemed. When a 
white man among the Apaches had the presump- 
tion to touch one or to take a picture of it, the In- 
dian men were greatly excited, and purified both 
it and themselves with sacred powder. Of an 
artist who said that the belt would be improved 
if cleansed of the grease and dirt upon it, they 
demanded damages to the extent of thirty 
dollars. In this pontifical outfit, the medicine 
man practiced his necromancy and magical rites 
with great noise and grotesque action. He 
alone could perform the incantations and furnish 
the anointed amulets that were supposed to pro- 
tect the warrior when on the warpath. 

In most cases, when the white man came to 
American shores, the Indian treated him kindly 
and considerately. Columbus and his men were 
looked upon as a superior class of beings and 
treated accordingly. Their fidelity to Penn's 
treaty is historic. In the old Indian cemetery 
at Stockbridge, Mass., is a shaft bearing this 



THE INDIANS — PAST AND PRESENT 45 

inscription, " The friends of our fathers." But 
in other cases and sometimes when it was least 
deserved, they were treacherous, cruel, and blood- 
thirsty. But it can scarcely be said that they 
were worse than the white man. "With the 
coming of the white man, it was inevitable 
that Indian civilization should perish, but it 
need not have gone down in shame and disgrace 
to its destroyer. Yet every student of history 
knows that it has. The Indian's land was taken 
from him by force, or purchased for a paltry 
sum, insignificant in comparison to its real value. 
Treaties were recklessly broken. Sacred promi- 
ses were never kept. Cruel wars of extermina- 
tion were waged upon the slightest pretext, or 
without any, if necessary for looting the Indians 
of their lands. " The Indians began by meeting 
kindness with kindness, and good faith with 
good faith. But the after records ! Their story 
can be written in two words : * Driven out ! ' 
and ours in three : * Fair promises broken.' " 
The pathway of the downfall of Indian civiliza- 
tion is marked by perfidy, by injustice, and by 
cruelty. "What a debt we owe to the American 
Indian! For hunting grounds taken what less 
can we do than show him the way to the true 
hunting grounds of the future ? For covenants 
broken and promises unkept, what less can we 
do than point him to the covenant-keeping God, 



46 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

whose promises are "yea and amen in Christ 
Jesus " ? 

The American Indian of the present is in a 
vastly different situation than the American In- 
dian of the past. Then he roamed at will over 
the boundless American prairies; to-day he is 
confined in the government reservations or 
dwells in a particular locality. Then he inhab- 
ited a continent alone ; to-day he shares it with 
eighty millions of people, different in race, color, 
religion, and civilization. 

Whether the Indian is dying out as a result of 
his new surroundings and his contact with a dif- 
ferent civilization is bath an interesting and im- 
portant question to the supporters of Christian 
missions among them. It is claimed and is com- 
monly believed that such is the case. The popu- 
lar belief is that as a result of contact with the 
white man, the taking on of his civilization, and 
particularly his vices, the ruthless wars that have 
been waged, the introduction of the worst forms 
of disease, especially consumption, the policy of 
the Government of treating the Indians as tribes 
and not as individuals, make it only a matter of 
time until the Indian question shall be solved by 
his extinction. This belief however is undoubt- 
edly false, and arises principally from a misun- 
derstanding of the original number of American 
natives. Past estimates of the Indian population 



THE INDIANS — PAST AND PRESENT 47 

of our country have been very high and without 
doubt, too high. The estimates of the early ex- 
plorers Avere fanciful and false, characterized by 
their usual tendency to exaggerate everything in 
connection with the new world to which they had 
come. Because of the numerous bands of war- 
riors, it was said " the woods are full of them," 
and that the country " swarmed with the sav- 
ages." Estimates based upon such language 
were naturally very high. In 1816 Elias Boudi- 
not, then considered the best authority on Indian 
statistics, published the names of three hundred 
tribes, and estimated their population in N^orth 
America to be from two to five millions. But 
this estimate is only a guess and probably not a 
very good guess. Yet such exaggerated esti- 
mates account for the prevalent belief that the 
Indian is becoming extinct. If they were true, 
such would certainly be the case, for there are no 
such numbers in existence to-day. But that they 
are not true is the testimony of those who have 
carefully investigated the subject. Hon. ^Y. A. 
Jones, United States Commissioner to the In- 
dians, strenuously opposes the theory that the 
Indian is dying out. He believes that the early 
estimates were greatly exaggerated, and de- 
clares that "taking the concurrent facts of his- 
tory into consideration, it can with a great 
deo^ree of confidence be stated that the Indian 



48 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

population of the United States has been little 
diminished from the days of Columbus, Corlando, 
Kaleigh, Captain John Smith, and other early 
explorers." This opinion seems to be the correct 
one. While early settlers fancied that the woods 
were full of Indians, it is now known that there 
were vast territories unoccupied by them, and 
never visited except on hunting or warlike expe- 
ditions. It is probable that the Indian population 
east of the Mississippi Eiver from 1620 to 1750 
never exceeded 200,000 ; and that the entire 
population of the United States at the time of 
the discovery of America, did not exceed 300,000. 
About two hundred years ago the best estimates 
placed the Indian population of the United States 
east of the Mississippi at 149,000. There is no 
reason to doubt the correctness of these conserv- 
ative estimates. The result of their acceptance 
leads to the conclusion that the Indian is not 
dying out, and this conclusion is undoubtedly 
correct. Some tribes have entirely disappeared, 
but the race is not becoming extinct. While 
some tribes decrease, others increase. One tribe 
is said to have doubled its population in fifteen 
years. The report of the Commissioner to the 
Indians shows that the birth rate of the Indians 
is increasing. This being the situation, mission- 
ary work among the Indians is more imperative 
and encouraging. The work is not the temper- 



THE INDIANS— PAST AND PRESENT 49 

ary ministration of the gospel to a dying people, 
which would be worthy of all our efforts, but it 
is a permanent work, descending to children's 
children, among those who yet may be some- 
thing more than " wards " in their own land. 

The present distribution of the Indians may 
be best understood by dividing them into eight 
classes, as has been done by the Board of Home 
Missions, as follows : — 

1. Tlie Six Nations of New Yorh. — These 
number about 5,500, and are but little removed 
from the simpler life of the poor whites of the 
State. 

2. The Five Civilized Tribes. — These are the 
Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and 
Seminoles. They live in Indian Territory, and 
number nearly 67,000. The gospel has been 
preached and schools maintained among these 
tribes for generations, so that few traces of their 
native Indian life are seen among them to-day. 

3. The Eastern Cherolcees of North Carolina. 
— These refused to go westward with the great 
body of their sixty tribes years ago, but remained 
among the mountain homes of their forefathers. 
Their population is about 35,000. 

4. Indians on Reservations. — These reserva- 
tions are under the control of the national Gov- 
ernment, are not taxed or taxable, and are to 
be found in almost every one of the Western 



50 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

States. The population of the reservations is 
over 125,000. 

6. The Pueblos of New Mexico, — The ances- 
tors of the Pueblos were a remarkable and an- 
cient people. They were neither warlike nor 
migratory, but dwelt in houses, built of bricks, 
after a style of architecture peculiarly their own. 
The Pueblos number nearly 10,000. 

7. The Ajpaches.—ThQj consist of about 400 
prisoners of war, under the "War Department. 

8. Imprisoned Indians. — These are in na- 
tional, state or territorial prisons. Their number 
is about 200. 

The relation of the United States Government 
to the Indian has been divided into three periods, 
the colonial, the national, and the tnodern, the 
last beginning with the presidency of General 
Grant. 

The colonial period was characterized by con- 
stant wars, bloodshed, and rapine. The trouble 
arose mainly from the fact that two races and 
civilizations, differing vastly in character, had 
been brought together on our shores with the 
coming of the white man. Yet the fact can- 
not be disguised that the most bloody Indian 
wars and massacres of colonial days were in- 
spired by the whites themselves. The English 
and the French struggled for a century for su- 
premacy in America ; and in these struggles, both 



THE INDIANS — PAST AND PRESENT 51 

nations and even the American colonists did not 
scruple to use the Indians as allies when sorely 
pressed. " French tomahawks and scalping 
knives struck down and mutilated English 
women and children, in the exposed settlements 
of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. 
French officers were in command at Deerfield, at 
Fort William Henry, and at Braddock's defeat. 
Kor does history record that they put forth any 
effort to prevent the horrors perpetrated by the 
Indians. iJ^or was England in her hour of need 
more scrupulous. The savage Iroquois were called 
to her aid to subdue the colonists struggling for 
independence. English tomahawks and scalping 
knives were red with our fathers' blood at 
Wyoming, at Oriskany, and at the Minnisink. 
Nor does history record that the British or Tory 
officers in command sought to restrain their mur- 
derous use. The colonists themselves in some 
instances employed Indian allies in the struggle 
with England." Yet with all this, the blame 
was placed upon the Indian. The whites sowed 
the wind and expected in vain to escape the 
whirlwind. For disasters which he himself in- 
spired, the white man demanded vengeance and 
would rob the Indian of his land. The Indian 
had to fight or die, and being human he decided 
to fight. The only court to which he could ap- 
peal was that of force and when all is taken into 



52 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

consideration, we could not expect him to have 
done otherwise. 

The national period of the Government's rela- 
tion to the Indian has been called " a century of 
dishonor." Peace with the Indians was impos- 
sible because of the insatiate greed of the settler 
for the Indian's land. To prevent settlement 
upon the lands allotted to the Indians was impos- 
sible. Washington tried it, but failed. He rec- 
ommended to Congress that "no settlements 
should be made west of a clearly marked bound- 
ary line, and that no purchase of land from the 
Indians except by the Government should be per- 
mitted. This recommendation however was dis- 
regarded, and another Indian war was the result. 
In the earliest treaties made by the Government 
with the Indians, where boundary lines were dis- 
tinctly marked, the lands designated were given 
to the Indians forever^ and white settlers were 
left to the mercy of the Indians for punishment. 
On January 21, 1785, such a treaty was made 
with the Ottawas, Chippewas, and Delawares. 
But these treaties were utterly disregarded by 
the whites, and the wars followed which resulted 
in the defeat of General St. Clair and the massa- 
cre of his troops, and in the victory of Gen. 
Anthony Wayne over the Miamis. These wars 
are illustrative of every war that has occurred 
with the Indians from that time to this. Treat- 



THE II^"DIANS—PAST AND PRESENT 53 

ies were made, promising lands to the Indians, 
* while water ran and grass grew.' The ink in 
which the treaty was written was scarcely dry 
before our unrestrained and unrestrainable set- 
tlers would proceed to violate their terms. This 
invariably led to irritation, and to individual acts 
of revenge on the part of the Indians, — and then 
followed war. It was this which led to St. 
Clair's Indian war and his defeat, to Wayne's 
victory over the Miamis, to the troubles between 
the United States and Tecumseh, the battle of 
Tippecanoe, and to the losses w^hich our people 
suffered from Tecumseh's alliance with the Brit- 
ish in the War of 1812. Failure to pay annuities 
due the Sioux Indians by the Government was 
one of the causes that led to the awful Minnesota 
massacre in 1862. The Sitting Bull campaign, 
which culminated in the Custer massacre, was a 
direct result of violation of treaty agreement, 
through the invasion of the Black Hills by pro- 
spectors in search of gold. The removal of the 
Cherokees from Georgia by United States troops 
was one of the most unjustifiable outrages that 
our history records, and one of the few that pro- 
voked no bloodshed. The Cherokees bad made 
great advance in civilization, and for years had 
been under the influence of Christianity. The 
demand for their removal by the United States 
on the part of Georgia was dictated wholly by 



54 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIOIITS 

greed, was contrary to treaty provisions, and was 
without excuse. The discussion agitated the 
whole country, but finally Congress yielded, and 
General Scott was ordered to remove these un- 
happy people from the land of their fathers, and 
thus to destroy their civilization just as it was 
beginning to bear fruit. The march through the 
wilderness caused the death of at least half the 
tribe." Thus Mr. Herbert Welch, the Secretary 
of the Indian Rights Association records our 
dealings with the Indians ; — and what a black rec- 
ord it is and how it should inspire us to make 
every possible reparation to this unfortunate race, 
especially by giving to it the gospel of Christ ! 

The modern period of our relations with the 
Indians began with the first term of General 
Grant as President. In 1870 he introduced what 
has been called "The Peace Policy." He an- 
nounced his intention of dealing with the Indian 
question in a more just and friendly manner. 
He advocated their civilization, the education of 
their children, and the fulfillment of treaty obli- 
gations. He appealed to Christian bodies to as- 
sist in their amelioration. As a result of his 
policy the "Indian Rights Association" was 
formed. It consists of nine members, for whose 
services no salary is paid. The work of the as- 
sociation is to "spread correct information, to 
create intelligent interest, to set in motion public 



THE INDIANS — PAST AND PEESENT 55 

and private forces which will bring about legisla- 
tion, and by public meetings and private labors 
to prevent wrongs against the Indian and to 
further good works of many kinds for him." 
The " "Woman's J^ational Indian Association " is 
a supplementary body, which deals philanthrop- 
ically with the Indian as an individual. It es- 
tablishes missions where there are none and turns 
them over to Christian denominations, who will 
care for them. 

The Peace Policy has produced splendid re- 
sults. Indian outbreaks are less frequent. Mili- 
tary outposts have been abandoned, and some 
have even been turned into schools. Savage and 
barbarous customs are giving way to the forms 
of civilization. 

The Department of the Interior at Washing- 
ton has charge of the government of the Indians. 
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs is at the 
head of the Indian office, which is a bureau in 
this department. The majority of the Indians 
to-day are on reservations — a term applied to 
the land set apart or reserved by the Government 
for the exclusive use of the Indians. On each 
reservation is a government agent, who has asso- 
ciated with him, a physician, clerk, farmers, po- 
licemen, and other employees, all of whom are 
paid by the Government. The entire establish- 
ment is called an Indian agency. The agents 



66 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

are responsible to the Commissioner of Indians, 
who is appointed by the President, and resides 
in Washington. 

One of the worst features of the Eeservation 
System is the distribution of rations. The res- 
ervations are not fitted for agriculture. The in- 
habitants have therefore to be fed by the Gov- 
ernment, which deals out rations periodically to 
many of the tribes. This is a vicious system. It 
breeds laziness and incapacity. It gives the In- 
dian agent, if he be unscrupulous, a dangerous 
advantage over those for whom he should care, 
for he can give or withhold the ration, and thus 
has the very lives of the " nation's wards " in his 
hands. The Indian by such a system never can 
be taught to become a self-respecting and self- 
supporting citizen. 

The education of the Indian boys and girls is 
receiving special attention by the Government. 
It aims to educate them both industrially and 
intellectually. For this purpose it has estab- 
lished non-reservation boarding schools, reserva- 
tion boarding schools, and reservation and inde- 
pendent day schools. The Indians also attend 
state and territorial public schools, contract day 
and boarding schools, and mission day and board- 
ing schools. The object of Indian education is 
not so much to give a " higher education " as it 
is to fit the boys and girls for the duties of every- 



THE IlfDIANS — PAST AND PRESENT 57 

day life. The course of instruction is patterned 
after that in our common schools, and to this is 
added industrial training. In the large non-res- 
ervation schools, shoemaking, harness-making, 
tailoring, blacksmithing, plastering, and brick- 
making and laying, are taught with considerable 
effectiveness. The harness shop of Hampton 
schools some time ago completed an order for 
fine harness for John Wanamaker of Philadel- 
phia and Kew York. Fifty trucks have been 
furnished to a Eichmond house, and fifty more to 
the Sea Board Air Line Company. The Carlisle, 
Pa., school furnishes the Indian service with a su- 
perior farm wagon. In Washington and Oregon 
the Indians do the hop picking. The keeping of 
bees is a specialty at Grand Junction, Colorado. 
At Fort Hall, Idaho, which is a cattle-raising 
district, the herding and care of cattle, the 
slaughtering of beef cattle, and the dairy busi- 
ness, are taught. 

The number of non-reservation schools is 
twenty-five, with an enrollment of 7,928. The 
largest and oldest of these schools is at Carlisle, 
Pa. It w^as opened November 1, 1879, and has an 
enrollment of over 1,000. There are eighty-eight 
reservation boarding schools, with an enrollment 
of 10,782. The day schools number 138 and 
have an enrollment of 4,622. The contract day 
and boarding schools have an enrollment of 130. 



58 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

The public schools have on their rolls the names 
of 257 Indian pupils. The mission boarding 
schools are attended by 3,531 Indian scholars 
{Commissioner'^ s Rejport for 1901^ p. 29). 

The mission schools among the Indians are 
thus described by the Commissioner of Indian 
Affairs : — " Mission schools are a growing class of 
schools, whose work is a great benefit not only to 
the children but also to the adult Indians. They 
are operated by various religious denominations, 
both Protestant and Catholic, and also by, phil- 
anthropic associations. Teachers, employees, food, 
clothing, and buildings, are provided by the con- 
ductors of the schools. The Government only 
assumes supervisory care over them. Agents 
and* other government officials are directed to 
lend *a helping hand and assist the mission- 
ary efforts of the employees in securing a 
legitimate attendance.' Connected with many 
of the schools are small mission churches, which 
have a wide influence for good on the community. 
Children in the government schools are advised 
and urged to attend the church of their choice " 
{Commissioner's Be^port for 1900). 

These efforts at education cannot but bear fruit 
for the future. It may be true that some who 
return from the schools to the reservations lapse 
into their old lives or even worse, but not all do ; 
and among what people does education always 



THE INDIANS — PAST AND PEESENT 69 

assure stability of character and a successful 
career ? As conditions become more thoroughly 
understood, safeguards can be provided against 
unusual retrogation, and the beneficent results 
of education and industrial training will become 
even more manifest. Our Government owes it as 
a debt to the descendants of the original owners 
of our land to make their advancement in life as 
assured as possible. In no way can this better 
be accomplished than by educating them, so that 
they can earn a respectable livelihood. Instead 
of herding them like cattle on reservations, and 
feeding them with a government spoon, the 
American Indians should be treated as individ- 
uals and placed in positions, where, as self-respect- 
ing citizens, they must make their own living, or 
fall behind in their failure to do so. 

It should be a matter of great satisfaction to 
all who are interested in the welfare of the In- 
dian that this policy is at last being inaugurated 
by the Government. The Indian Commissioner 
in his report for 1901 says, " Certainly it is time 
to make a move toward terminating the guar- 
dianship which has so long been exercised over 
the Indians and putting them upon equal foot- 
ing with the white man, so far as their relations 
with the Government are concerned " ; and again, 
" whatever the condition of the Indian may be, 
he should be removed from a state of depend- 



60 PRESBYTEKIAN HOME MISSIONS 

ence to one of independence. And the only way 
to do this is to take away those things that 
encourage him to lead an idle life, and after 
giving him a fair start, leave him to take care 
of himself. To that it must come in the end 
and the sooner steps are taken to bring it about 
the better. That there will be many failures, 
and much suffering is inevitable in the very na- 
ture of things, for it is only by sacrifice and 
suffering that the heights of civilization are 
reached." In pursuance of this policy, the work 
of cutting " off rations from all Indians except 
those who are incapacitated in some way from 
earning a support," has already been begun, and 
" the result has been surprising. The office feels 
that a great stride has been taken toward the 
advancement, civilization and independence of 
the race ; a step, that if followed up, will lead 
to the discontinuance of the ration system as far 
as it applies to able-bodied Indians, the abolition 
of the reservation, and ultimately to the absorp- 
tion of the Indian in our body politic " {Rejport 
for 1901^ pp. 4, 5, 6). It is to be sincerely hoped 
that this policy, in spite of the difficulties in the 
way, can be put into practical effect. If so, then 
the future of America's native race brightens 
materially, for dependent wardship will give 
place to independent citizenship. 



Ill 

THE INDIA:t^S— MISSIONS 



CHAPTER III 

THE INDIANS— MISSIONS 

The history of Indiaja missions dates back as 
far as 1528. The first missionary efforts among 
the American Indians were made by Spanish 
Catholics. In 1526 Pamphilius de IS'arvaez, a 
Spanish explorer, started out to conquer Florida. 
He had with him a number of Franciscan monks. 
The expedition however was a failure. On their 
return the boats containing the missionaries were 
wrecked. They reached land, but only to perish 
by starvation, sickness, and the cruelty of the 
natives. What they did is not known, but no 
regularly organized mission was established. Mis- 
sionaries also accompanied Ferdinand de Soto on 
his famous but fatal expedition, but every one 
of them perished, and we know of no attempt to 
found a mission. After several other unsuccess- 
ful attempts, the first successful mission to the 
American Indians was established at St. Augus- 
tine, in 1573, by Spanish Franciscan monks. 

The Protestant Church began its missionary 
work among the Indians in ]^ew England in 
16i3. The place was the Island of Martha's 

63 



64 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

Yineyard and the first missionaries were the 
Meyhews. In 1641 Thomas Meyhew, Sr., re- 
ceived a grant of Martha's Yineyard and the sur- 
rounding islands. Later on, his son, Thomas Mey- 
hew, Jr., was called by the settlers of the island 
to become their pastor. He extended his work 
to the several thousand Indians about him. He 
learned their ways and language and established 
a successful mission. The first convert among 
the l^ew England Indians was Hiacoomes, who 
afterwards became a preacher to his own people. 
Mr. Meyhew's labors were greatly blessed. In 
1651, he reported 190 conversions. In January, 
1651, the first school for Indian children was 
established. In October, 1652, the first Indian 
Church was organized, with a membership of 
282. While on his way to England in 1657 to 
secure aid for his work, Mr. Meyhew was lost at 
sea. His father, then over seventy years of age, 
studied the Indian language and carried on the 
work of his son. " He spared himself no pains 
in his work, often walking twenty miles through 
the woods in order to preach or visit these 
Indians." The gospel was carried by him and 
his converts to Nantucket. In 1670 the first In- 
dian Church with a native pastor was organized. 
Governor Meyhew continued his labors until his 
death at the advanced age of ninety-two. He 
was in his last years assisted by Kev. John Cotton 



THE I:N^DIANS — MISSIONS 65 

and by liis grandson, Kev. Experience Meyhew, 
who translated the Psalms and the Gospel of 
John into the Indian vernacular. 

Most conspicuous among the early successful 
missionaries to the Indians stands John Eliot, 
"the apostle to the Indians." The field of his 
labors was among the Pequots and other tribes 
of eastern Massachusetts. He began his work 
in 1646 while pastor of the church at Koxbury, 
Mass. He labored incessantly and his eiiorts 
were crowned with success. He gathered his 
converts into towns and established schools and 
civilized industries among them. These towns 
were known as "praying bands" or "Indian 
praying towns." He framed two catechisms for 
Indian use and translated the Bible into their 
language, which was his greatest work. The 
translation of the entire Bible was completed in 
December, 1658. Two years later the printing 
of it was finished. This was the first Bible 
printed on the American continent. What a 
jjrovidence that it should have heen in the In- 
dian tongue ! Eliot's motto, written at the end 
of his Indian grammar was, 

" Prayer and Pains, 
Through Faith in Jesus Christ 
Will do Anything,'''' 

He labored for thirty years among his people 



()6 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

teaching them to work, to read and to pray. 
"He gave them a Bible in their own tongue, 
and from those hunting and fighting savages 
six Indian churches were gathered, whose 
more than a thousand * Praying Indians' once 
and again stood firm against fearful odds and 
became a bulwark of safety to their pale-face 
neighbors." 

The Quakers began their Indian missionary 
work in Pennsylvania in 1685. Penn's famous 
treaty with the Dela wares, which was unbroken 
by either party for seventy years, has been called 
" the brightest spot in all our dark dealings with 
the Indian tribes." 

The Moravians early established successful In- 
dian missions. They began their work in west- 
ern Connecticut in 1742, but labored most exten- 
sively in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Ohio. The 
leader of Moravian missions among the Dela wares 
was David Zeisberger. It was in connection with 
Moravian missions that the most tragic incident 
of early Indian mission work occurred, namely 
the destruction of Guaddenhiitten, Ohio, by 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, March 7, 1782. Guad- 
denhiitten was a Moravian Indian village on the 
Tuscarawas Eiver in Ohio. Near the close of 
the Kevolutionary War this community was un- 
justly suspected of disloyalty and was destroyed 
by Pennsylvania soldiers. The destruction of 



THE INDIANS— MISSIONS 67 

the village was an unjustifiable outrage — a sim- 
ple massacre. Men, women, and children, were 
driven into a pen and butchered. Those who 
escaped this butchery fled with their mission- 
aries to the British garrisons at Philadelphia for 
protection. "They were pelted with mud and 
stones by their persecutors as they stood for 
hours at the barrack doors waiting for them to 
open." When asked how they endured such 
abuse so patiently, they replied, " We thought 
of the sufferings of Christ upon the cross and 
believed that if he could endure so much for us, 
we could endure a little for him." The Mora- 
vian missions in Georgia, which were very suc- 
cessful, were begun in 1735. 

Eev. Jonathan Edwards, the great !N"ew Eng- 
land divine, was also a successful missionary 
among the Indians. Leaving his church at 
Northampton in 1751, he became pastor of the 
church and missionary to the Indians at Stock- 
bridge. He had been born at Old Stockbridge, 
and as a child had learned the Indian language. 
" It became," he said, " more familiar to me than 
my mother tongue ; " and this knowledge was of 
great use to him in his work as a missionary. 
In 1758, when Mr. Edwards became president of 
Princeton College, the Stockbridge Indians were 
moved to Oneida County, New York, whither 
they were followed by Kev. John Sargent, the 



68 PKESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

son of their first missionary. Mr. Sargent be- 
came their pastor. 

The Presbyterian Church has always been in- 
terested in the conversion of the American 
Indians. The history of Presbyterian missions 
among the Indians " is a long and inspiring 
story from early colonial efforts beginning with 
the Long Island Indians to this opening of the 
twentieth century, when at least thirty -five tribes 
have been reached and one hundred and twenty 
missions and schools are in successful operation 
in the great West." 

The first Presbyterian missionary among the 
American Indians was Rev. Azariah Horton. 
He began his work on Long Island in 1741. 
His salary was forty pounds sterling per annum. 
It was paid by " The Society in Scotland for 
propagating Christian knowledge." This Society 
was formed in Edinburgh in 1709. In 1741, it 
established a Board of Correspondents in 'New 
York. Through this Board, Mr. Horton, who 
was a member of the Presbytery of New York, 
began his labors. He "was well received by 
most and cordially welcomed by some of the 
Indians." In a short time he baptized thirt}''- 
five adults and forty-four children. " Some of 
them, however, gave way to temptation and 
relapsed into their darling vice of drunken- 



THE INDIANS — MISSIONS 69 

Eev. David Brain erd, the biography of whose 
consecrated life was w^ritten by Rev. Jonathan 
Edwards, was the second Presbyterian mission- 
ary to the Indians. He w^as licensed to preach 
by the Congregational Church, but on June 12, 
1744, was ordained a Presbyterian missionary 
by the Presbytery of JSTew York. His support 
was also received from the " Scotch Society for 
propagating Christian knowledge." He labored 
in Connecticut, in Pennsylvania, and in JSTew^ 
Jersey. His greatest and most successful w^ork 
was done among the Crossweeks, a tribe near 
the center of ISTew Jersey. Dr. Ashbel Green 
says his "success here was perhaps without a 
parallel in heathen missions since the days of 
the apostles." He labored single-handed against 
great odds, yet did a great work. Of his first 
year's work Brainerd himself says : " What amaz- 
ing things hath God wrought in this space of 
time for this people ! What a surprising change 
appears in their tempers and behavior! How 
are morose and savage pagans in this short 
period transformed into agreeable and humble 
Christians 1 and drunken bowlings turned into 
devout and fervent praises to God ! " He urged 
the Indians to give up their wandering life, to 
dwell in a settled community and to practice 
agriculture. He organized a church of forty 
members, wath a settlement of 150. He estab- 



YO PRESBYTEKIAN HOME MISSIONS 

lished a school with twenty-five to thirty scholars 
which increased to fifty. Weakened by con- 
sumption he was compelled to give up his mis- 
sion and to remove to Elizabethtown. Gaining 
a little in strength, he was able to visit his 
people to bid them farewell February 18, 1847. 
He died October 9 of the same year at the early 
age of thirty years. Before his death he was 
visited by his brother, Eev. John Brain erd, who 
continued his brother's work among the Indians. 
John Brainerd was supported by money raised in 
America, being the first Presbyterian missionary 
who was thus supported. 

The Synod of IS'ew York was greatly encour- 
aged by the success of the mission work among 
the American aborigines, and in 1763 " enjoined 
all its members to appoint a collection in their 
several congregations once a year to be applied " 
to this work. During the next ten years mis- 
sionary tours were made by ministers appointed 
for the purpose, even as far west as the Dela- 
vrares in Ohio, which was then the frontier. 
Eev. Charles Beatty and Eev. George Duffield 
visited the Indians on the Muskingum Eiver, Ohio, 
in 1766. Their report was so favorable that two 
missionaries were appointed to labor in this 
region. 

The Eevolutionary War interrupted missionary 
labors for almost twenty-five years, and there 



THE INDIANS — MISSIONS 71 

are no records of work done until near the close 
of the century. 

In 1796, the " ISTew York Missionary Society " 
was formed. It was independent of presbyterial 
supervision, yet composed largely of Presby- 
terians. Funds were collected and missions 
established among the Chickasaws, the Tusca- 
roras, and the Senecas. 

In 1797 the " JN'orthern Missionary Society," 
another independent organization, composed in 
part of Presbyterians, was instituted, and carried 
on mission work among the Indians for several 
years. 

The Synod of Virginia in 1801 and 1802 sent 
three missionaries to spend two or three months 
each among the "Shawanese and other tribes 
about Detroit and Sandusky," and also " a young 
man of Christian character to instruct them in 
agriculture and to make some instruments of 
husbandry for them." 

The Synod of Pittsburgh afterwards accepted 
the control of this mission. 

The Synod of the Garolinas in 1803 established 
a school among the Catawbas. 

The General Assembly of our Church took up 
the cause of foreign missions vigorously and 
systematically in 1800. A " Standing Committee 
on Missions" was appointed, and missions were 
gradually established among the Cherokees, 



72 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

Wyandots, the Six !N"atioiis, and among the In- 
dians at Lewiston, Ohio. 

"In 1802 the General Assembly's Standing 
Committee addressed a circular to all the pres- 
byteries under its care, urging collections for the 
cause of missions, and making inquiries for suit- 
able men." Rev. Gideon Blackburn responded 
to the call for men. He established a mission 
among the Cherokees, then in Georgia, which he 
prosecuted with zeal and success for eight years, 
when his health failed. " He founded a school 
in 1806. In five years, in his schools, four or 
^ve hundred youths were taught to read the 
English Bible and several persons were received 
as hopeful Christians." The Assembly not being 
able to replace Mr. Blackburn, his field of labor 
was occupied by the " American Board of Com- 
missioners for Foreign Missions," soon after his 
retirement in 1810. 

"From 1805 to 1818 the General Assembly 
carried on work among the Indians in various 
directions, and with some degree of success." 

In 1818 " The United Foreign Missionary So- 
ciety " was formed. It was a union of the Pres- 
byterian, Dutch Reformed and Associate Re- 
formed Churches, "to spread the gospel among 
the Indians of North America, the inhabitants of 
Mexico and South America, and other portions 
of the heathen and antichristian world." Pres- 



THE INDIANS— MISSIONS Y3 

ident Monroe and his Indian Commissioner, 
Colonel McKenney, were much interested in the 
work of this society. Colonel McKenney " could 
scarcely have embarked in its favor with more 
zeal and activity, if the whole concern had been 
his own." 

In 1826 this society, when it had nine missions 
and sixty missionaries under its care, was merged 
with the " American Board of Commissioners for 
Foreign Missions." All the work of the United 
Society passed under the control of the American 
Board, and the society ceased to exist. This ar- 
rangement lasted for five years, during which 
time a large portion of the Presbyterian Church 
carried on its Indian mission work through the 
American Board. 

In 1831 the Synod of Pittsburgh organized 
" The "Western Missionary Society," in response 
to the desire of many Presbyterians to prosecute 
their mission work through denominational chan- 
nels. This society was " intended, not for that 
synod alone, but for all others which might wish 
to unite with it." Its purpose was " conveying 
the gospel to whatever parts of the heathen 
and antichristian world the providence of God 
might enable it to extend its evangelical exer- 
tions." The first secretary was Eev. Elisha P. 
Sv>uft, D. D. The first large gift was one of a 
thousand dollars, and was given by Hon. Walter 



Y4 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

Lowrie, Secretary of the United States Senate. 
" This society was the precursor of the Presby- 
terian Board of Foreign Missions, and during its 
brief existence of six years, Eev. Joseph Kerr 
and wife, with others, established a mission 
among the Weas in the Indian Territory, twenty 
miles west of the Missouri line on the Kansas 
Kiver." The Weas being a small tribe, these 
laborers were later on transferred to the Iowa 
tribe. 

In 1837, at the meeting of the General As- 
sembly at Baltimore, the present " Presbyterian 
Board of Foreign Missions " was organized. The 
work of the '' Western Missionary Society " was 
transferred to this Board, which had Presby- 
terian Indian missions under its care until at 
various times the missions among the Indians 
were transferred to the " Presbyterian Board of 
Home Missions." 

In 1838 the Presbyterian Church was divided 
into the Old and E'ew Schools, the division lasting 
until 18T0. During these years the 'New School 
Assembly carried on its Indian mission work by 
a committee through the American Board, while 
the Old School Assembly's work among the In- 
dians was under the care of the Foreign Board. 

The missionary work of the Foreign Board 
among the Indians was extensive and successful. 

East of the Mississippi Kiver the Board estab- 



THE INDIANS — MISSIONS Y5 

lislied missions among the Chippewas and Otta- 
was of Michigan, the " Six Nations " of New 
York, and the Lake Superior Chippewas in 
northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. The mis- 
sion among the remnants of the Chippewas and 
Ottawas was inaugurated in 1838. Rev. Peter 
Dougherty was the first missionary. He was 
cordially received, the work prospered, and a 
church was organized in 1843. The mission 
among the " Six Nations " was established in 
1811 and continues unto this day. "Eev. Asher 
Wright labored among the Senecas for forty- 
three years. He is said to have been the only 
white man who ever acquired a satisfactory 
knowledge of the Seneca language. He con- 
structed for them a written language and trans- 
lated the four Gospels. He died April 13, 1875, in 
his seventy-second year." His widow carried on 
his work until her death in 1886. Rev. William 
Hall, beginning in 1834, labored earnestly for the 
Indians of the Allegheny reservation for nearly 
sixty years. In 1893 the Seneca Mission was 
transferred to the " Board of Home Missions." 
In 1852 the Lake Superior Chippewa Mission was 
centralized at Odanah on the Red River reserve. 
A church was gathered and a boarding school 
established. In 1873 Rev. Isaac Baird and wife 
joined this mission. An out-station was organized 
at Ashland in 1878. In 1884 a school was opened 



76 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

at Kound Lake on the same reservation and 
placed in charge of Miss Susie Dougherty and 
her sister Miss Cornelia Dougherty. In 1890 the 
Chippewa Missions were transferred to the Home 
Mission Board. 

In the ISTorthwest of our country the Foreign 
Board established missions among the lowas and 
Sacs of Indian Territory, the Omahas and Otoes 
of Indian Territory, the Kickapoos of Kansas, 
the Winnebagos of Indian Territory, the Dako- 
tas, who lived in Dakota, Wyoming, JS'ebraska, 
and Montana, and the l^ez Perces of Idaho. The 
Iowa and Sac Missions were commenced in 1835. 
They occupy 228,418 acres in Indian Territory. 
The first missionaries were Messrs. Aurey Ballard 
and E. M. Shepherd and their wives. Schools 
^vere established and personal work done. In 
183Y, Eev. Messrs. William Hamilton and S. M. 
Irwin and their wives were sent to this field. In 
1843 a printing press was purchased and parts 
of the Bible and other religious books were pub- 
lished in the Iowa language. In 1859 a church 
with fifty -nine members was organized. In 1889 
this mission passed under the care of the Home 
Board. 

The Sac and Fox Mission was begun in Tama 
City in 1883. This little band of Indians num- 
bered 393, on a reservation of 1,258 acres. Miss 
Anna Shea took charge of the work. She opened 



THE INDIANS— MISSIONS 77 

a school, and with an assistant accomplished good 
Avork. Of her work she said, " I cannot tell how 
my heart yearns over these Indians as I move 
among them day by day, and I long to be used 
in a way to hasten their enlightenment." This 
mission passed into the hands of the Home Board 
in 1890. 

The Omahas and Otoes occupied the country 
in Indian Territory, north of the lowas. Mis- 
sion work was commenced among them in 1846. 
The first workers were Rev. Edmund McKenney 
and wife, and Mr. Paul Bloohm. In 1855, the 
Omahas moved to a reservation of their own, 
and work was continued among them by Rev. 
William Hamilton and later by Rev. Charles 
Sturges, M. D. and wife. In 1858 Rev. "William 
Guthrie was appointed to the Otoe Mission. 

Among the Kickapoos of northeastern Kansas, 
mission work was begun in 1856 by Rev. W. H. 
Honnell. It was discontinued in 1860 because 
of insurmountable difficulties which were in the 
way. 

The Winnebago Mission was begun in 1868. 
Rev. Joseph M. Wilson commenced the work. 
The mission was transferred to the Home Board 
in 1890. 

The Dakota Mission was commenced in 1835, 
by Rev. Thos. S. Williamson and wife, Rev. J. 
D. Stevens and Avife and two unmarried women 



78 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

under the American Board. The Dakotas or 
Sioux was one of the largest and most warlike 
of all the Indian tribes. They numbered then 
50,000 and were scattered over a vast extent of 
territory. In 1850 there were three organized 
churches among them. In 1853 the Dakotas 
moved to their reservation and new stations were 
established. The work among them gradually 
grew until 1862 when occurred the horrible mas- 
sacre of white settlers in an attempt to over- 
throw Christianity. The insurrection was speed- 
ily put down. Two thousand Dakotas were taken 
prisoners. Thirty-eight were executed. In 1871 
a portion of this mission was transferred to the 
Home Board. 

Mission work among the Dakotas of Montana 
was begun at Poplar Creek in 1880. The first 
missionary was Kev. G. W. Wood. In 1892 the 
Dakota churches were transferred to the Home 
Board. 

The Nez Perce Mission is of special interest, 
because associated with it is the most dramatic 
incident in connection with Indian mission work 
— the saving of the Northwest to the United 
States by Dr. Marcus "Whitman. This tribe and 
that of the Flatheads occupied territory in Idaho 
and in Oregon. From trappers they had heard 
of the existence of a Supreme Being and of a 
Book from heaven (the Bible). They earnestly 



THE INDIANS — MISSIONS 79 

desired this book and sent four messengers to 
seek it. The messengers, after overcoming many 
difficulties, reached St. Louis. Here they met 
General Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs 
for the ITorthwest. They were kindly treated, 
but were broken-hearted that they could not se- 
cure missionaries and " the Book from heaven." 
Two of them died at St. Louis and one on the 
way home, the fourth one only ever reaching 
home. Before leaving St. Louis they called on 
General Clark, and in an address explained that 
they had come "over a trail of many moons 
from the setting sun," " sent to get the white man's 
Book of heaven." The speaker complained bit- 
terly that they must return home with their mis- 
sion unaccomplished, closing his address with 
these pathetic words : — " My people will die in 
darkness, and will go on the long path to the 
other hunting grounds. No white man will go 
with them and no white man's book to make the 
way plain. I have no more words." This sad 
complaint was heard at Pittsburgh and the an- 
swer to it was Dr. Marcus Whitman, who was 
sent out by the American Board to explore the 
country in 1835. In 1836 he established a mission 
in Oregon. In 1843, Dr. Whitman, to save the 
Korthwest Territory to the United States, when 
the British were endeavoring to obtain possession 
of it, made a hasty trip to Washington. lie 



80 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIOITS* 

communicated to the authorities both the 'value 
of the E'orthvvest and the danger of its being 
lost. With great difficulty he impressed his 
views upon the Governmental officers, and then 
to him was intrusted the responsibility of saving 
the territory by making an actual settlement 
upon it. This he did by a thrilling homeward 
journey, taking with him over the mountains in 
the face of the gravest dangers and almost in- 
surmountable difficulties a thousand settlers. 
These settlers made a permanent settlement and 
planted the American flag in the I^orthwest to 
stay ; and thus Oregon was saved to the Union 
by the desire of the Indians for Christian knowl- 
edge and the heroic efforts and sacrifices of a 
Christian missionary. And that missionary be- 
came a Christian martyr ! In 184:7, " the Indians 
through the instigation of Eomish priests, fell 
upon the station, killed Dr. Whitman and others, 
and broke up the station." In 1871 the Presby- 
terian Board sent Eev. H. H. Spaulding and 
wife, who had labored with Dr. Whitman, to the 
field, and with them Eev. T. H. Cowley and Avife. 
They were gladly received and in the first year 
184 converts were reported. This field was also 
the scene of the successful labors of the Misses 
McBeth, who for several years were the only 
white missionaries on the reservation. " Miss 
Kate McBeth devoted herself to the women and 



THE INDIANS — MISSIONS 81 

children, striving to develop among them a true 
ideal of family life. Miss Sue McBeth, a woman 
of remarkable energy and talent, found her spe- 
cial work in educating young men for the minis- 
try. Most of the Indian pastors in the mission 
were educated under her supervision." In 1893 
this field was transferred to the Home Board. 
*' The Nez Perces in Idaho are now a settled peo- 
ple, many of them prizing the fruits of industry 
and the blessings of Christianity." The martyred 
Whitman and his associates did not live and die 
in vain. In them " the blood of martyrs " again 
became "the seed of the Church." In God's 
providence, it is always so. 

In the Southwest the Foreign Board estab- 
lished missions among the Creeks, Seminoles, 
Choctaws, and the Chickasaws, of Indian Terri- 
tory, and the IS'avajoes and Pueblos of !N'ew 
Mexico. 

The Creeks in 1837 were removed forcibly 
from Georgia and Alabama to Indian Territory. 
They numbered about 20,000. From 1832 to 
1837 the American Board had missionaries 
among them. In that year the missionaries, 
upon false charges of the disappointed Indians, 
were expelled without a hearing by the United 
States Government. For several years the peo- 
ple were without religious instruction. In 1841 
the Presbyterian Board sent Kev. K. M. Lough- 



82 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

ridge among them with letters to the chiefs from 
the War Department. In 1842 he received per- 
mission to open a mission and a school. Schools 
were established in due time at Koweta and Tul- 
lahassee. In 1861 missionary operations were in- 
terrupted by the Civil War. In 1866 Kev. W. S. 
Eobinson and wife returned to the field. Mr. 
Kobinson labored faithfully until his death in 
1881. " His whole heart seemed devoted to the 
education of the Indian youth and he did a good 
work which shows itself everywhere throughout 
the Creek nation." Mrs. Robinson remained at 
the work and completed the translation of the 
New Testament. In 1887 the mission was trans- 
ferred to the Home Board. "The Creeks are 
now counted among the civilized tribes. They 
dress and live like white people. They are mak- 
ing progress in temperance, in industry, in good 
morals, and in religion." 

The Seminole Indians were removed from 
Florida to Indian Territory by the Government 
in 1832. " Being of the same language and line- 
age of the Creeks, they were settled within the 
Creek reservation." The Presbyterian Board 
sent Mr. Loughridge of the Creek Mission on a 
visit to them in 1845. " Though welcomed by 
some he was opposed by others who did not want 
the ways of white men, such as ' schools, preach- 
ing, fiddle-dancing, card-playing, and the like' 



THE INDIANS— MISSIONS 83 

brought among tliem." In 1848 Kev. John Lilley 
was sent among them and a mission established 
at Oak Eidge. The work was interrupted by 
the Civil War, but has since been continued with 
success. This mission was transferred to the 
Home Board in 1889. 

The Choctaw Mission grew out of an offer of 
the tribe in 1845 to transfer Spencer Academy to 
the care and direction of the Board. The acad- 
emy was located at Fort Towson, had an en- 
dowment of $8,000 and could accommodate 100 
pupils. The offer was accepted and Kev. James 
B. Kamsey, as superintendent, with seven assist- 
ants, began work. Eesults were most satisfac- 
tory. In 1847 a church was organized. Mission 
work among this tribe has been greatly blessed. 
The work was transferred to the Home Board in 
1887. 

The Chickasaws number about 6,000, and oc- 
cupy the territory west of the Choctaws. Until 
1861 the Board had mission schools among them. 
At that time they were taken under the care of 
the Southern Presbyterian Church. 

In New Mexico there are about 30,000 Indians. 
Presbyterian missions have been established 
among two tribes — the Kavajoes and the Pueblo 
or Village Indians. " Both these tribes are de- 
scribed as partially civilized, temperate, truthful, 
friendly and willing to have schools opened for 



84 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

their children." In 1877 the Home Board took 
charge of this field. 

The Board of Home Missions now has the care 
and direction of all our mission work among the 
Indians. Under the Home Board the work has 
been vigorously prosecuted and has made great 
progress. The Home Board's work among the 
Indians is to-day of even greater importance than 
ever before in the light of the recent change of 
policy of the Government toward the Indian. 
The American Indian is now as rapidly as pos- 
sible to be placed absolutely upon his own re- 
sponsibility. No longer housed and fed by the 
Government, his ability to meet the problems of 
life will be tested as never before, since he has 
lived amidst his present environments. The im- 
portance of religion and of the Church at this 
crisis in his life, is readily understood and ap- 
preciated. The Church should redouble its 
energies to do its part in making him morally 
and spiritually capable of meeting these new con- 
ditions. That the Presbyterian Church will do 
its part in this critical moment is not to be 
doubted. Its past and present attitude toward 
Indian missions assures its loyalty at this time. 
The Presbyterian Church to-day has Indian mis- 
sions in eleven states and three territories and 
among twenty Indian tribes. The statistical 
record, which best tells the story, is as follows : — 



THE INDIANS — MISSIONS 



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86 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

A hero of Presbyterian mission work since it 
came under the Home Board is Kev. Charles H. 
Cook, of Sacaton, Arizona, or " Father " Cook 
as he is familiarly called, missionary to the 
Pimas. In 1870 he left mission work in Chicago 
and consecrated his life to the bringing of the 
Arizona Indians to Christ. He went at first in 
the employ of a merchant, and spent his odd 
hours and Sabbaths in missionary work. Later 
he became a government teacher of the In- 
dians and then after years of working with his 
own hands that he might preach the gospel, 
he became a missionary of the Presbyterian 
Church and so continues. His success has been 
marvelous. " Fourteen hundred Indians baptized 
is a fine record. Old men and young, mothers 
and grandmothers, warriors and medicine men, 
with children claimed in covenant, are written 
by name in his book of baptism." Five church 
buildings have been erected under his care and 
through him thousands have heard the gospel, 
and hundreds been developed in Christian life 
and service. To the question of a Moderator of 
the General Assembly, "Do all your Indians 
have family worship?" he replied, "I do not 
know as to that ; but I do know that none of my 
Indian men will refuse to lead in public prayer 
in the prayer meeting ! " What a record for one 
man. " Father " Cook is a great man, a patri- 



THE INDIANS — MISSIONS 87 

arch among thousands of people, welcome in 
many villages. 

The most important advanced step in the his- 
tory of missions among the Indians, since trans- 
ferred to the Home Board was the organization 
of "the Woman's Board of Home Missions." 
This Board was organized in 1878. To it was 
assigned the school work among our exceptional 
populations, and among them the Indians. The 
needs of the children have appealed with peculiar 
force to the noble-hearted women of our Church, 
and with remarkable efficiency and success, they 
have carried forward this phase of Presbyterian 
home missions. The success of the school work 
among the Indians has proven its necessity and 
importance. " These schools have been the 
means of elevating entire tribes to a point where 
the Government has been justified in allotting to 
them their lands in severalty, and conferring 
citizenship upon them. On many reservations 
have grown up churches, composed almost without 
exception of communicants who have received 
their education and training in these Christian 
schools." The school work is a tremendously 
important factor in the Christianization of the 
American Indian and is worthy the consecrated 
efforts of the Christian women of our Church. 

The Indian schools under the Woman's Board 
have interesting histories, and are doing a 



88 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

splendid and successful work to-day that should 
encourage all who are interested in their support. 
In the day and boarding schools the Bible is 
taught along with the rudiments of a common 
education. In the training and industrial schools, 
the arts of industry are added to the other 
branches, the industries selected being governed 
by the locality. The boys are usually taught 
farming, stock-raising, and the rudiments of the 
simpler trades, and the girls such household in- 
dustries as cooking, sewing, knitting, and laun- 
dry work. The object of the industrial schools 
is to educate the head, the heart, and the hand. 
This is always essential, but especially so when 
it comes to the American Indian. 

The Mary Geegoey Memorial School is 
located near Anadarko, Indian Territory. It 
was organized in 1891, and is both a boarding 
and an industrial school. The farm products of 
the school in 1900 amounted to $3,000 in value. 
It has eight teachers and seventy-five scholars. 
Its annual expenses are about $6,000. 

D WIGHT, located near Marble, Indian Territory, 
is one of our oldest schools, and is familiarly 
called " Old Dwight." It is a day and boarding 
school and was organized in 1820. It was closed 
during the Civil War and was reopened in 1886. 
"Shepherd Home," a self-supporting boarding 
department for boys has been opened at Dwight. 



THE INDIANS— MISSIONS 89 

It has proved a success. The day school is 
crowded and God is richly blessing the work of 
those in charge. There are in the school three 
teachers and 100 scholars. The annual expenses 
are over $2,000. Nearly $100 is received in 
tuition. 

Elm Spring is located near Welling, Indian 
Territory. It is a day and boarding school, and 
was opened in 1888. Teachers, 3 ; boarding pu- 
pils, 25 ; day, 65 ; total, 90. Expenses, $1,000. 
Keceipts from tuition about $75 annually. 

Heney Kendall College, Muskogee, Indian 
Territory, was opened in 1882. It was named 
in honor of Dr. Henry Kendall, "the hero of 
home missions " who was for thirty years secre- 
tary of the Board of Home Missions. It was 
raised to the standard of a college in 1894, and 
has won for itself a high position among the five 
civilized tribes of the Territory as well as with 
the white people whose children enjoy its advan- 
tages. The graduating class of 1900 consisted of 
six young women and one young man. "The 
graduates are Christians and well equipped to take 
their part in the evangelization of our land. 
This college will undoubtedly become the lead- 
ing educational institution of the Territory." 
Teachers, 17 ; boarding scholars, 110 ; day pupils, 
91 ; total, 201. Annual expenses, $16,000. Ee- 
ceipts from tuition about $3,500. 



90 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

J^UYAKA, near Okmulgee, Indian Territory, 
was organized in 1883. It is a boarding and in- 
dustrial school. It " is the only mission training 
school among the fuU-blooded Creeks, and has 
told wonderfully on the manners and morals of 
the people. Spiritual results are also constantly 
appearing." The school farm consists of 320 
acres. Under the direction of a competent 
farmer the boys of the school are taught farming. 
Grains, grasses, and meats, valued at $2,500, have 
been produced in one year. Domestic arts of 
equal value are taught to the girls of the school. 
Teachers, 7 ; pupils, 102 ; expenses, $10,000 ; re- 
ceipts from tuition about $7,000. 

Park Hill, Indian Territory, is an old land- 
mark. It was first organized in 1830 ; was dis- 
continued, and was reopened in 1886. It has 
one teacher and thirty-six scholars, with an 
annual expense of $650. 

Tahlequah Institute, Tahlequah, Indian 
Territory, w^as opened in 1883. It is a day and 
boarding school. Its field of labor is the Chero- 
kee nation and it is highly appreciated. It is 
said to be the Cherokee's best educational institu- 
tion. Its graduates occupy prominent places in 
the Capital City, and also in the surrounding 
country, some of them being teachers. "No 
work done among the Indians is more satisfactory 
and profitable from a spiritual standpoint than 



THE INDIANS — MISSIONS 91 

that done at Tahlequah." Teachers, 7; board- 
ing scholars, 34 ; day, 180 ; total, 214. Total ex- 
penses, $6,000. Keceipts from tuition, $2,000. 

Phoenix, Arizona, is a mission among the 
Papagoes. It has one teacher, an ordained mis- 
sionary, whose salary is $350. 

Sacaton, Arizona, is a mission to the Pima 
Indians. The teaching corps consists of one or- 
dained missionary and three native evangelists, 
of whose labors, Eev. Charles H. Cook, our mis- 
sionary to the Pimas, speaks in the highest 
terms. 

Tucson, Arizona, is an industrial school for 
boys and girls. It was opened in 1880. This 
school reaches several tribes, but its work is 
largely among the Pimas and Papagoes. The 
pupils are taught first of all the importance of 
becoming Christians. The Bible is the main 
text-book. Industrial arts are also taught. The 
boys add to the income of the school by excavat- 
ing cellars in the town, and bailing hay and 
other work in the country. More buildings are 
greatly needed to facilitate the work at Tucson. 
One of the interesting features of the work here 
is the employment of a native Papago woman, 
educated in the school, as a visitor and missionary 
among her own people. Her work is both ac- 
ceptable and successful. 

Fall Eiver Mills and Hupa schools, both 



92 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

in California, were received in 1900 from the 
Woman's National Indian Association. In eacli 
field there is but a single missionary, a woman. 
The work is successful and promising. Fall 
Kiver Mills is both a mission and a school. 

CoRTEZ, Colorado, is a school among the Ute 
Indians of southern Colorado. It was opened 
in 1898. It is accomplishing great good. Teach- 
ers, one ; pupils, forty. 

Fort Hall Keservation, near Blackfoot, 
Idaho, is a mission school among the Shoshone 
and Bannock tribes. It was organized in 1889 
by the Woman's l^ational Indian Eights Asso- 
ciation, and by them transferred to our Woman's 
Board in 1901. The progress since has been 
gratifying. A church organized in 1899 with 
eighteen members has grown to a membership 
of over 100. A house of worship has been 
erected, with teachers' rooms adjoining. There 
are two missionaries employed here whose com- 
bined salaries is less than $700 ! 

Lapwai, Idaho, is at present a training class 
for Nez Perce Indians. It was organized in 
1836. In recent years, there have gone out from 
this school more than half a score of ministers 
who are pastors of churches among their own 
people, and missionaries to the Umatillas, Crows, 
and other kindred tribes. Teachers, 2 ; pupils, 
15 ; salaries and school expenses. 



THE INDIANS — MISSIONS 93 

Wolf Point, Montana, is a boarding and an 
industrial school. It was organized as a mission 
in 1894, and was changed into a school in 1898. 
Its work is among the Assiniboin Indians. 
The experiment of a boarding department was 
tried in 1900, and has been a great success. The 
school has been crowded with boys and girls, 
whose parents provide for their support, thus 
making the boarding department self-supporting. 
Teachers, 3 ; boarding pupils, 26 ; day, 38 ; total, 
64. Annual expenses, $2,500. 

Laguna, Cubero, I^ew Mexico, is our only 
Indian school in New Mexico. The work has 
been carried on by a missionary and a teacher, 
but a minister is to be placed in charge to do the 
entire work. It is a day school, with an enroll- 
ment of fifty-six pupils. 

Good Will, South Dakota, is a training and 
industrial school for boys and girls. It was 
opened as a day school in 1871 by Dr. Stephen 
K. Eiggs, but since 1882 has been an industrial 
school. Good Will is one of our largest and best 
equipped schools. The industrial departments 
were enlarged in 1900. The little girls have 
been given a " home " by themselves, which is in 
charge of an efficient matron. The cottage sys- 
tem is fully realized in this school alone. By 
this system the pupils dwell in small " homes " 
instead of being housed together in one large 



94 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

building. The boys and girls are thoroughly 
trained in the Scriptures and are given an indus- 
trial training that will enable them to make a 
livelihood in the future. The boys look after 
the farm, take care of the stock, prepare the fuel, 
and do ordinary work in the shops. The girls 
care for the " homes," do the cooking, repair 
their own clothes, and such other work as is 
necessary in a school of this kind. The farm 
yields all the meat, vegetables, flour, etc., used by 
the school. The spiritual fruits of the school are 
also manifest. The eight churches surrounding 
Good Will are filled with men and women who 
have been educated in this school. These Indians 
are among the most progressive in our country 
and were among the first to be given citizenship, 
which is largely the result of mission work. 
Teachers, 13 ; boarding pupils, 92 ; day, 10 ; total, 
102. Total expenses, $12,000. 

Neah Bay, Washington, is a mission among 
the Makeh Indians of that State. One mis- 
sionary, a woman, at a salary of $500 does all 
the work of the mission. Slowly, but surely, the 
people are responding to her arduous labors, and 
" are coming out of the heathenism and be- 
ginning to understand and respect the Christian 
religion." 

Even such a cursory glance at the school work 
of the Woman's Board among the Indians shows 



THE INDIANS— MISSIONS 95 

its greatness and importance. Advance steps 
are being constantly taken. The standard of 
the work done is every year approaching 
that in our white schools. The newest feature is 
the self-supporting boarding departments, in 
which parents pay the expenses of their children, 
now in operation at Elm Spring, Tahlequah, 
and Wolf Point. " These self-supporting board- 
ing departments, in connection with our training 
schools, are alike a marvel to government Indian 
School inspectors and friends of the Indian 
work." Such a splendid work, producing such 
tremendous and far reaching results, should 
arouse the interest and cooperation of every 
Presbyterian woman in our land. 

The future of the American Indian lies in the 
hands of the American Government and the 
Christian Church. The Government should do 
its part, a part that demands statesmanship of the 
highest order. The Indian reservations with 
their accompanying evil of the " ration system " 
should be done away with and the Indians 
treated as individuals and not as tribes. Thus 
only can a self-relying, self-supporting Indian 
manhood be developed — the supreme essential 
for the civilization of the Indian. 

The Church, as well as the Government, should 
do its part in the elevation of the Indian. Its 
past success should inspire renewed effort. The 



96 PEESBYTERIAK HOME MISSIO^N-S 

Indian can be civilized and Christianized. He 
has been, and what has been can be. The argu- 
ment of history conclusively answers the charge 
of the uninformed that the Indian cannot be 
civilized and Christianized. Entire tribes have 
been lifted from degradation, superstition, and 
heathenism, to manhood, citizenship, and Chris- 
tian faith. And the Indian, once converted and 
civilized, becomes interested in his unconverted 
and uncivilized brother and is anxious that he 
also should have the advantages of Christian- 
ity and of civilization. These two facts prove 
the practicability of Indian mission work and 
should stimulate " Prayee and pains, [which] 

THEOUGH FAITH IN JeSUS ChRIST, WILL DO 

ANYTHING " — even to the making of a live In- 
dian, a good Indian. 



lY 
THE ALASKANS 



CHAPTER lY 

THE ALASKANS 

Alaska, in 1867, had the unique title of 
" Seward's Folly." But had the critics of the 
Secretary of State been able to look a genera- 
tion into the future, they would more appro- 
priately have denominated it "Seward's Wis- 
dom." Time has vindicated the judgment of the 
great secretary and has shown that his foresight 
was far superior to that of the age in which he 
lived. 

" Alaska " is an Indian name, and means " the 
great land." In natural endowments and re- 
sources at least, this name is fully justified — and 
may we not indulge the hope that the day will 
speedily come when the same can be said of it 
politically, intellectually, and spiritually ? 

The area of Alaska is "as large as all the 
United States east of the Mississippi, and north 
of Georgia and the Carolinas — in other words, 
one-sixth of the whole area of the United States, 
over half a million square smiles." Its coast 
line is twenty-five thousand miles in length and 
would exactly "girdle the globe." The Yukon 

LoFC. ^^ 



100 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

Eiver " appears navigable for nearly three thou- 
sand miles, is seventy miles wide at its delta of 
five mouths, and has tributaries from one to two 
hundred miles long." It compares favorably in 
size with the Mississippi, the Amazon, and the 
ISTile. Mount St. Elias is 19,500 feet high— the 
highest peak in America. Mount Cook is 16,000 
feet above sea level. Into what insignificance 
does Mount Washington dwindle in comparison, 
with its height of but 6,234 feet ! 

The climate of Alaska near the seacoast in 
the south and east is rescued from severity and 
desolation by an ocean current. "The mean 
annual temperature of Sitka, the capital, is the 
same as that of Georgia in winter. In summer 
it is the same as that of Michigan." In interior 
Alaska the summer is short and ofttimes in- 
tensely hot. The winters are long and extremely 
cold. " Winter," says Rev. J. W. Kirk, our mis- 
sionary at Eagle City, " begins the last of Sep- 
tember, closing with April. For two seasons the 
Weather Bureau has recorded sixty-eight degrees 
below. From l^ovember to February the day is 
open at 9.30 and ends at 2.30. From the first of 
May to August there is no darkness. Warm 
weather prevails from the middle of June to the 
middle of August. The soil is cold. A tin-lined 
box with double cover, sunk two feet in the ground 
under a shed, makes an excellent refrigerator. 



THE ALASKANS 101 

Cold recedes rapidly when the ground has been 
broken. The continuous day forces growth. 
Potatoes planted do not decay, hence a cutting 
is sufficient ; we can plant the eye and eat the 
potato. Fifty cents for two potatoes — one din- 
ner. The eyes of the same planted in June 
gave several dinners. Peas, cabbage, turnips, 
beets, lettuce, radishes, and onions, are also 
raised. 

" Cabin life is passed within four log walls with 
a low door and one small window. In a town 
there will be a floor. The roof poles extend over 
the front, making a porch. The whole is covered 
with moss and earth. The bed is made of poles 
covered with mountain feathers (spruce branches). 
Warm in winter, cool in summer, they are cheer- 
less, dark and dreary always. In the porch, out 
of reach of dogs and wolves, is hung the supply 
of meat. Men do the cooking, the staples being 
bacon, beans, evaporated potatoes, flour, sugar, 
coffee, tea, condensed milk. I have spent nights 
in such cabins when there were from seven to 
nine men and a dozen dogs, the latter keeping 
the door open most of the night in the midst of 
an Alaskan winter. 

" The prospectors, miners, and hunters, come to 
the towns where all kinds of people are found, 
from a federal judge to a saloon stoker, and from 
the manager of the great company's store to the 



102 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

keeper of a brothel, and where a detachment of 
the military is usually stationed." 

But while this is true of the interior, the south- 
ern coast has a remarkably salubrious climate, 
the records of forty-five years past showing the 
annual temperature to be that of Kentucky. Of 
this climate, Secretary Seward said: "It must be 
a fastidious person, who complains of a climate, 
in which, while the eagle delights to soar, the 
humming bird does not disdain to flutter. I 
have been lost in admiration of skies adorned 
with gold and sapphire as richly as those reflected 
in the Mediterranean. Some men seek distant 
climes for health, and some for pleasure. Alaska 
invites the former class by a climate singularly 
salubrious : the latter class by scenery, unrivaled 
in magnificence." 

The product of such a climate could not but be 
a luxuriant vegetation. We are not, therefore, 
surprised to find in Alaska, " illimitable forests, 
so dense that the eye cannot penetrate their 
glades. Pine, hemlock, cedar, spruce, balsam-fir, 
and Cottonwood, are here. Poplar attains such a 
size that the Indian shapes of its trunk a canoe, 
capable of holding sixty warriors ! " The birch, 
the larch and the cypress are here ; and as 
Seward said after personal observation, " no 
beam, or pillar, or spar, or mast, or plank, is ever 
needed in land or naval architecture by any civ- 



THE ALASKANS 103 

ilized state, greater in length or in width than 
can be had from these trees, hewn and conveyed 
to the coast, directly by navigation." Beneath 
the trees is " a luxuriant growth of shrubs, par- 
ticularly of all varieties of berry-bearing bushes 
and vines. Fifteen kinds of berries and all varie- 
ties of currants are plentiful. Hundreds of bar- 
rels of cranberries go yearly to California." 
Beyond the forest limits, grasses and flowers of 
white and gold abound. Yegetables of all va- 
rieties can be easily cultivated. ]^o where else 
do cabbages, potatoes, cauliflower, and celery, do 
so well. 

Animal life is also an abundant product of 
Alaska. "Fur-bearing animals are plentiful. 
Deer are so numerous that their flesh is little 
prized. The waters are full of life ; salmon are 
abundant and of the best quality ; the seal 
fisheries of two small islands have paid to the 
United States Government a rental of over three 
million dollars in three years — four per cent in- 
terest on the money paid to Eussia for the entire 
country! Other skins bring from twenty to 
two hundred dollars each, and are plentiful ; 
there are codfish here to supply the whole world, 
when our eastern fisheries fail." 

The mineral kingdom is also an important 
factor in the rich products of Alaska. " Coal 
crops out everywhere ; petroleum floats on the 



104 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

lakes ; copper abounds ; the marble of Alaska is 
inexhaustible; limestone abounds; sulphur, bis- 
muth, kaolin, fire clay, and gypsum, are found 
with the less valuable of precious stones, as 
amethysts, agates, carnelian, and garnet." In 
addition to all these, gold abounds in great 
quantities, and its discovery a few years ago is 
leading to the rapid transformation and develop- 
ment of the entire Territory. 

Gold, in great quantities, was first discovered 
in the Klondike, on the Canadian side of the 
line. But the field had to be reached by way 
of Alaska. An army of men went to the Klon- 
dike in 1897 and spread thence over the line 
into the whole interior of Alaska. The gold 
belt was found, upon investigation, to extend 
from British Columbia to the extreme north- 
western cape of Alaska. It runs through almost 
the whole length of the Yukon Eiver, and on 
nearly all the creeks, the color of gold has been 
found. Cape ISiOme is the latest of rich gold 
fields that have been discovered. Its first year's 
output of dust, in 1900, amounted in value to 
more than the cost of Alaska ! Such statements 
seem like fairy tales and yet they are true. The 
inrush of gold-seekers has more than doubled the 
population of Alaska in the last five years. J^or 
is it likely that this influx will decrease for a 
number of years at least. It promises rather to 



THE ALASKANS 105 

increase; for "the mining interests of Alaska, 
though just beginning their development, already 
stamp it as one of the richest mineral territories 
belonging to the United States." These facts 
make imperative the rapid march of Christian 
missions. 

The natives of Alaska came originally from 
Asia. They belonged to the Ungarian and 
Mongolian tribes and made their way across the 
Aleutian Islands and the Behring Strait into 
northern and central Alaska. Siberian tribes 
still have traditions of the departure of their 
ancestors to a land at the northeast from which 
thev never returned. The descendants of these 
early settlers are now divided into many tribes. 

The Inmcit or " Eskimo " is the principal tribe. 
" Eskimo " is a term of reproach and means 
"raw fish eaters." This tribe occupies the en- 
tire coast line and outlying islands and numbers 
15,000. Their residences are circular mounds of 
earth, with a small opening at the top for the 
escape of smoke. The entrance to the main 
room is a small and narrow hallway. They are 
inveterate smokers. They continually travel 
about in the summer, but have permanent winter 
homes. They are brave and have mostly lacked 
religious advantages. 

The Aleuts and Creoles occupy the Aleutian 
Islands. There are about 2,000 Aleuts and 500 



106 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

Creoles. In appearance the Aleuts resemble the 
Japanese. Each family has a house of several 
rooms. They respect the marriage relation. 
They have glass lamps, accordions, hand-organs, 
and dress in American garments. "Their 
v^^omen," declares Dr. Jackson, "study with 
great interest the fashion plates, and some try to 
imitate the latest styles ! " 

The Tinneh occupy the lower course of the 
Yukon and number three thousand. The 
Thinglet have their home on the islands of the 
Alexander Archipelago. They comprise ten 
clans and number nearly six thousand. The 
Hydah and the Hanegah occupy respectively 
the northern and southern parts of Prince of 
Wales Island. The Hydahs number nearly eight 
hundred, and the Hanegahs about six hundred. 
The Tongass are two hundred miles south of 
Fort Wrangle, and number nearly three hundred. 
The Chilhat have their home in the valleys of 
the Chilkat and Chilkroot rivers. They are 
great "middlemen traders" and number a thou- 
sand. The Sitkas, numbering seven hundred, 
are principally at Sitka. The Hoonah occupy 
both sides of Cross Sound and number nine 
hundred. The Siikine live at Fort Wrangle and 
number three hundred. The Auhes, numbering 
six hundred and fifty, are on Admiralty Island. 
The Tahu, occupying the mainland south of 



THE ALASKANS 107 

Douglas Island, number three hundred. The 
Kakes, still south, number seven hundred. The 
Metlahahtla occupy Annette Island and number 
about eight hundred. 

The natives of Alaska may be said in general 
to be " well and strongly made, capable of great 
physical endurance, healthy, long-lived, hardy 
hunters and fishers, and bold and warlike." The 
birth rate is high, but so is the death rate. 
Mothers are ignorant of the needs of children 
and a large percentage of them die before they 
are five years old. The vices introduced by the 
white men, such as impurity and intemperance 
in connection with smallpox, which is frequently 
epidemic, are also depopulating the territory. 

Life among the native Alaskans is uninviting 
and uninspiring. A whole family, sometimes 
containing thirty members, live in a one-roomed 
house ! Such a life breeds disease and makes 
domestic decency impossible. Small dark huts 
are built outside of the main abode of the family. 
Here women are shut up in sickness and left to 
care for themselves at a time when they need the 
tenderest care. Before the houses are erected 
"huge carved poles, bearing the totems of the 
inhabitants. The son takes the family totem, 
or animal emblem of the mother, and the suc- 
cession of these totem carvings indicates the 
genealogy of the owner." The people possess 



108 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIO:S^S 

blankets, beds of skins, and matting woven from 
coarse grass, used for beds, screens, and wall lin- 
ings. Baskets are made of tough grass. Their 
weapons, tools, knives, forks, and spoons, are 
made of stone. " Little boxes, combs, masks, and 
ornaments, are among their treasures. Mittens, 
hoods, leggings, shoes, and moccasins, are admi- 
rably made of sealskin. Probably no race makes 
better canoes than the Alaskan." Their princi- 
pal foods are fish, flesh, fowl, and berries. They 
dry berries, fish, and meat, in the summer for 
winter use. They also dry small fat fish for 
candles. Fish oil is also used for lighting pur- 
poses, fuel, and medicine. 

JSTative child life is especially dark and discour- 
aging. When a child is born he " is washed, well 
rubbed with grease, and then tightly rolled up 
in a skin or blanket, padded with grass. The 
bundle is unfastened once a day and the grass is 
changed. If he cries too long, his head is held 
under water to teach him to be still. If the 
baby is a boy and has a curly lock on his head 
he is destined to become a shaman or doctor ; if 
he has any personal resemblance to an ancestor 
who is dead, he is supposed to be that person 
returned to life, and gets his name." Infanticide 
is frequently practiced when the parents think 
the children are too numerous. Girls are more 
often put to death than boys. The victim is 



THE ALASKANS 109 

taken to the woods, her mouth stuffed with 
grass, and she is then left to die. Children are 
practically uncared for and die prematurely, 
^many before they are five years of age. From 
five to twelve, those who live are taught useful 
industries. A girl at ten or twelve years is put 
in the small dark hut outside the house and 
kept there from three months to three years. 
Her mother only sees her, and occasionally at 
night, takes her out for a walk. If she survives, 
and marries on leaving her place of imprison- 
ment, the aim of her existence is supposed to be 
attained. But many do not survive ; and in the 
light of the Alaskan woman's degraded condi- 
tion, it is a question if they are not the favored 
ones. Mothers ofttimes sell their daughters into 
temporary or perpetual slavery ! 

The Alaskan shaman or doctor is believed to 
be possessed of the devil and to be very wise. 
To become a doctor, a boy is shut up in a hut, 
like the girls. He is tortured, wrought up to a 
frenzy, which must result in epilepsy, fed on raw 
dog and human flesh. If he comes through 
these ordeals alive, he becomes one of the favored 
order of shaman. The shaman is orthodox in 
his charges, which are very extravagant. His 
most usual diagnosis is witchcraft. After bowl- 
ings and dances, he points out the poor victim, 
usually a woman or a child, who is brutally 



110 PKESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIOJSTS 

treated until she confesses or dies — usually both. 
" The shaman is an arbiter to his people, an in- 
carnate fiend, a vampire living on the life blood 
of his tribe, their terror in health, their master 
in disease, the dispenser of their souls, and of 
their bodies, when they are dead." How sadly 
such a downtrodden and degraded people need 
Jesus Christ, the true Physician of both body 
and soul ! 

Burial of the dead in Alaska is unique and in- 
teresting. Several methods are used — earth 
burial, aerial burial, water burial, and cremation. 
In earth burials, clothing, weapons, domestic 
utensils, are placed in or upon the graves, for the 
future use of the dead. Scaifolds are used in 
aeria] burials. The body is placed in a box, 
basket, or a canoe, and raised from the ground 
upon the scaffolding. Water burial is mostly 
used for women, slaves, and witches. Cremation 
is universal among the southern Alaskans. 

The religious life of the native Alaskans is 
crude and heathenish. They believe in a God, in 
demons, in witches, in the transmigration of the 
soul, and in a future life. They often practice 
polygamy, infanticide, and slavery. By their 
creed, " all the blessedness of the future is for 
man. Woman has no inheritance in this life or 
in the life to come. Slavery, vice, misery — in 
these is an Alaskan Avoman's portion. She ex- 



THE ALASKANS 111 

pects nothing else ; hope is dead ; even for her 
child she expects nothing; she murders her 
daughter, or sells her in early girlhood for a few 
blankets." What a dark picture, and how it 
should appeal to the Christian women of our 
Church ! The very helplessness and hopelessness 
of their sisters in Alaska cry — " Come over and 
help us ! " 

Kussia first came into contact with Alaska 
through the fur trade. The first Eussian traders 
were ignorant, coarse, and brutal. Eepresenta- 
tives of the Eussian Government first came to 
Alaska in 1766. "Outrages on all humanity 
characterized their procedure. Their motto was, 
— * Heaven is high; the Czar is far distant.'" 
The Aleuts began to pay tribute to Eussia in 
1779. In 182i and 1827 the boundary lines be- 
tween Eussia and the United States, and the 
United States and England, were settled. " The 
Eussians now built forts, sent more settlers, and 
released the Aleuts from the payment of taxes, 
but forced them to trade entirely with Eussian 
companies ; and they also explored to some ex- 
tent the Alaskan mainland. We are told that 
*the Aleuts were subject to the most horrible 
outrages ; they were treated as beasts rather than 
as men. An Aleut's life was of no value.' " 
Eussian occupation of Alaska was most disas- 
trous. The population was woefully decreased 



112 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

and the Alaskans " were utterly crushed by the 
early traders." Schools and churches were es- 
tablished in time; but at most they did little 
more than teach the Kussian language and the 
rites of the Greek Church. ISTor was Alaska 
specially profitable to Kussia. Its great distance 
from Kussia, the diflSculties of access to it, and 
its proximity to the possessions of England, 
Eussia's proverbial enemy, all joined to make it 
very undesirable territory to the Government of 
the Czar. Hence Eussia was more than willing 
to listen to the proposition of a purchaser in the 
Government of the United States ; and Secretary 
of State, Hon. William H. Seward, was just as 
anxious to buy. The country was explored in 
1865 by a corps of scientific men, with the object 
in view of establishing telegraphic communica- 
tion with Asia ; and in this way the value of the 
territory was discovered. Negotiations for its 
purchase were at once opened, and on the 
30th of March, 1867, a treaty was concluded by 
which, for the sum of seven million two hundred 
thousand dollars, Alaska was ceded to the United 
States. " The flag of Eussia was hauled down, 
and the Stars and Stripes floated in its place. 
Eussian America was renamed by its Indian 
title, Alaska, *the great land.'" Since that 
day the future of Alaska has never been in 
doubt. 



THE ALASKANS 113 

The first Christian missionaries to Alaska con- 
sisted of eleven Angus tinian monks from the Kus- 
sian Greek Church, who were sent out by Em- 
press Catharine in 1Y93. In 1822, three addi- 
tional priests were sent from Eussia. In 1823, 
Innocentius Yiniaminoff, the real founder of the 
Greek Church in Alaska, began his work. Funds 
were not wanting for the work. " The Russian 
fur company was taxed $6,600 yearly for mis- 
sions; the Greek Church mission fund gave 
$2,313.75 annually to the same cause; $1,100 
came from the candle tax ; and private individ- 
uals gave so liberally that a surplus accumulated 
to the amount of $37,500, which was loaned out 
at five per cent interest, the interest being used 
on the field." Think of a missionary surplus ! 
and be " provoked to good works." Yiniaminoff 
was made bishop in 1840. An ecclesiastical 
school was opened in Sitka in 1841, which in 
1845 was endowed and raised to the rank of a 
Greek Church seminary. Thus the work grew 
until it embraced seven missionary districts, 
eleven priests, sixteen deacons, with a propor- 
tionate number of schools and a church member- 
ship in 1867 of 12,000. The only other Christian 
church in Alaska up to this time was a Lutheran 
church, which the Russian Government estab- 
lished in 1845 for the benefit of the Fins, Swedes, 
and Germans, employed in Russia. With the 



114 PKESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

transfer of Alaska to the United States, the Eus- 
sian churches and schools were for the most part 
closed. The Europeans who had been with the 
fur company returned to Europe. The Lutheran 
minister and his flock abandoned the territory ; 
and " the land was left without law, government, 
teachers, preachers, schools, or charities." 

The churches of America however were slow to 
respond to the call of Providence in the acquisi- 
tion of this vast territory, with its thousands of 
human beings who had been left spiritually help- 
less and hopeless. We might have supposed that 
the Church would have been electrified by this 
opportunity and call to duty. But this Avas far 
from the actual result. Instead, "ten years 
rolled round ; the churches did nothing, and 
hundreds of immortal souls who had never so 
much as heard that there was a Saviour, were 
hurried to judgment from a Christian land. Ten 
years came and went and thousands were left to 
grow up in ignorance and superstition, and form 
habits that will keep them away from the gospel, 
if it is ever offered to them. It was also ex- 
pected that the great missionary societies of this 
country would make it a matter of competition 
which should be first to unfurl the banner of the 
gospel in that land ; but for years, although the 
question was not wholly lost sight of, nothing 
was done save to resolve that missionaries ought 



THE ALASKANS 115 

to be sent. Such was the dark but true picture 
in 1877, but the dawn was at hand. That year 
the Rev. Sheldon Jackson, D. D., of the Presby- 
terian Church, visited Alaska and planted the 
first mission there at Fort Wrangle." Our ex- 
ample was followed by the other denominations, 
until the following besides ourselves have mis- 
sions in Alaska — the Episcopalians, Methodists, 
Baptists, Moravians, Congregationalists, Friends, 
Swedish Evangelical, and Eoman Catholic. As 
far as possible the denominations have wisely 
settled remotely from each other. This arrange- 
ment prevents all interference, and the possibility 
of perplexing the natives with denominational 
differences. 

The first Presbyterian missionary to Alaska 
was Mrs. A. R. McFarland — one of the heroines 
of missionary history. Mrs. McFarland began 
her work in 1877, at Fort Wrangle. She was 
accompanied in her first journey to Alaska by 
Dr. Sheldon Jackson. For seven months after 
Dr. Jackson returned, she was the only white 
teacher in Alaska and for five months longer she 
was the only one at Fort Wrangle. " It was at 
the edge of winter, and a steamer came from 
home only once a month." In comparison to 
such heroism and self-denial as that, what is that 
of the average Christian ? What must have 
been her feelings when she saw the vessel having 



116 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

Dr. Jackson on board steam away, and realized 
that she was alone in a vast and unknown coun- 
try ! When Dr. Jackson returned home, the cry 
that assailed him was, "What! did you leave 
Mrs. McFarland up there alone among those 
heathen, up there in the cold, on the edge of 
winter ? " " Yes," was the reply, " I did ; and 
she has neither books, nor schoolhouse, nor help- 
ers, nor money, nor friends, — only a few con- 
verted, but morally uninstructed Indians, and a 
great many heathen about her. 'Now what will 
you do for her?" That interrogation and Dr. 
Jackson's eloquent appeals aroused and inspired 
the Presbyterian Church, and from such a feeble 
beginning, our work has grown in Alaska until 
under the blessing of God we have within the 
bounds of the Territory two presbyteries, eight 
native churches, four white churches, over a 
thousand church members, eight native and three 
white Sabbath schools, one training school, four- 
teen mission school-teachers, one hundred and 
fifty-one pupils, and a hospital which requires 
the services of five workers. The Woman's 
Board maintained mission, boarding and indus- 
trial schools at Haines, Hydah (Jackson P. O.) 
and Juneau for a number of years. In 1898, 
these were closed, and such of the pupils as were 
willing were transferred to the Sitka Training 
School. The United States Government has a 



THE ALASKANS 117 

day school at each one of these points, and the 
Board a home missionary at each place also. 

The missionary activity of the Presbyterian 
Church in Alaska has been limited principally to 
southeastern Alaska and to the interior, along 
the Yukon Yalley. The interior work has been 
among the Alaskan gold-seekers. The eight 
native churches in the Territory are located at 
Point Barrow, Juneau, Haines, Fort Wrangle, 
Saxman, Hoonah, Jackson, and Sitka. The four 
white churches are at Skaguay, Juneau, Sitka, 
and Fort Wrangle. 

The southeastern mission work began with 
the labors of Mrs. McFarland at Fort Wrangle 
in 187T. The field is now embraced in Alaska 
Presbytery, which is connected with the Synod 
of Washington. 

FoET Wrangle was our first missionary 
station in Alaska. Mrs. McFarland was sent 
hither in 1877 by the First Presbyterian Church 
of Portland, Oregon. Amidst constant dangers 
and great privations she heroically persevered 
in her labors. She opened, on August 28, 1877, 
the first Presbyterian mission school in Alaska. 
About thirty pupils were enrolled. Being prac- 
tically without books, oral instruction was neces- 
sary. " Bible texts, the . Commandments, the 
Lord's Prayer, and also the multiplication table, 
were laboriously taught by repetition." The first 



118 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

school building was a dance hall. In August, 
1878, Eev. S. Hall Young, of Parkersburg, West 
Virginia, arrived to take charge of the Wrangle 
work. In June, 18Y9, Dr. W. H. K. Corlies 
and wife, of Philadelphia, independent mission- 
aries, arrived and assisted in the work. On the 
fourteenth of July, 1879, the Eev. Henry Ken- 
dall, D. D., Secretary of the Home Board, and 
his Avife, Dr. and Mrs. Sheldon Jackson, Dr. and 
Mrs. Lindsley, of Portland, and Miss Dunbar, vis- 
ited Wrangle and were most enthusiastically 
welcomed. Miss Dunbar remained as a teacher. 
On August the third, of the same year, the first 
church was organized. Eighteen Alaskans were 
received on confession of faith. A church build- 
ing was erected and occupied for the first time on 
October 5th. In 1888 Dr. Young was succeeded 
by Eev. Allan McKay ; and he in turn by Eev. 
Clarence Thwing in 1892. The rush to the 
Klondike in 1898 so increased the population 
that a white church was organized. The native 
church now numbers one hundred members. 
The Eev. Harry P. Corser is the pastor of both 
churches. In the winter he often preaches five 
sermons weekly for the Alaskans and three for 
his white congregation. The Sabbath schools 
of both churches are prosperous. Heathenish 
practices are being successfully combated. The 
great foe to the work is intemperance, and to es- 



THE ALASKANS 119 

cape its ravages Mr. Corser is anxious to move 
his people to an island of their own. 

Sitka, the capital of Alaska, is " beautiful for 
situation." Hon. John G. Brady, governor of 
Alaska, but a former Presbyterian missionary, 
makes his home here. Sitka was naturally the 
scene of our second missionary endeavor iu 
Alaska. In 1879 and 1880 an attempt was made 
to open a school for Russian children. It was 
taught by Rev. Alonzo E. Austin and Miss Etta 
Austin. Rev. John G. Brady, the present gov- 
ernor, was appointed to Sitka by the Home 
Board in the winter of 1877 and 1878. In April, 
1878, a school was opened by Mr. Brady and 
Miss Fanny E. Kellogg. In December the school 
for various reasons was closed. In the spring 
of 1880, Miss Olinda Austin of :N'ew York city 
was sent to the capital city. She opened a 
school, April 5th. One hundred and three pupils 
were present. This number was soon increased 
to one hundred and thirty. In November seven 
boys asked for the privilege of living in the 
schoolhouse. This request was granted on con- 
dition that they provide the necessary furniture. 
This they did and thus began the boarding de- 
partment of the school. The military officials 
at Sitka became much interested in this feature 
of the work. Boys were brought from distant 
tribes, and the number reached twenty-seven. 



120 PEESBYTEEIAK HOME MISSIONS 

In 1882 the schoolhouse burned down, and the 
boys found refuge in a Government stable. In 
1884 Kev. John G. Brady donated a new loca- 
tion, and under the direction of Dr. Sheldon 
Jackson a new two and a half story building 
was erected, one hundred by fifty feet in size. 
Dr. Jackson took charge of the school, and with 
Mr. Austin organized a church, September 7, 

1884. Forty natives and five white members 
were enrolled. September 14-16, 1884, the Pres- 
bytery of Alaska was organized at Sitka and 
held its first meeting. In the same month, Mrs. 
A. R, McFarland's home for girls was removed 
from Wrangle to Sitka, and the two schools were 
united into the now famous Sitka Industrial and 
Training School. To meet the increased needs 
of the work a second large two and a half story 
building, one hundred and thirty by fifty feet 
was erected. It was first occupied January 1, 

1885. In this year Dr. Jackson was appointed 
United States General Agent of Education for 
Alaska and was succeeded in his school work 
by Prof. William A. Kelly, of Pennsylvania. 
Eev. A. E. Austin was with the work from the 
beginning, and built the church to a member- 
ship of 341. In 1898 Mr. Austin and his wife 
left for the States to spend their declining years 
near their children. He was followed by Kev. 
M. D. McClelland, who afterwards became the 



THE ALASKANS 121 

pastor of the Fourth Church of Portland. Kev. 
Wm. S. Bannerman was then called from Juneau 
to Sitka and began his work January 1, 1901. 

The Sitka Industrial and Training School has 
been an unqualified success. The school is entirely 
coeducational. The girls and boys recite in the 
same room and eat at the same table. Proper 
opportunities are allowed for social intercourse. 
One half of each day is devoted to study and the 
other half to work. The principal trades taught 
to the boys are shoemaking, coopering, and car- 
pentering. The boys make all the shoes that are 
worn by the pupils. Barrels and half barrels 
are manufactured b}^ them. They also bake the 
bread for the school. There has been organized 
among them a brass band of twenty members 
and a military company with an enrollment of 
thirty-five. The girls are taught all the indus- 
tries of the kitchen, dining room, and teacher's 
room. Each girl is given individual lessons in 
housekeeping. The responsibility is impressed 
upon them while they are trained in methods of 
work. The success of the school work is shown 
by the after lives of the pupils. 

"A recent report from the Sitka Training 
School gives the names and post-ofilce addresses 
of former pupils who are engaged in the follow- 
ing pursuits : Eleven are boot and shoemakers, 
three are engaged in boat-building, two as car- 



122 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

penters, three as coopers, two as clerks in stores, 
four in canneries, two as cooks, four in dress- 
making, two in steam engineering, three in 
mining, four are merchants, two are hospital 
nurses, one is a painter and paperhanger, four 
are engaged in sawmilling, one is a silversmith, 
six are teachers in public schools, four are mis- 
sionaries, and the names of twenty-eight young 
women are given who have married and preside 
over Christian households, while a large number 
of others are unmarried and live with their 
parents." 

Sitka has had and still has a number of schools ; 
but " of all the schools at Sitka, the Presbyterian 
Training School is the * City of Refuge ' for those 
fleeing from death, — the * House of Hope' to 
those sitting in the habitations of cruelty, — the 
* House of Help ' to the starving, friendless, 
homeless waif, — an asylum to the escaped slave, 
— the protection of helpless girlhood." This is 
Dr. Sheldon Jackson's splendid eulogy of our 
principal Alaskan school ; and there is no higher 
authority upon the subject than he. If for all 
the time and money spent in this Territory, the 
Presbyterian Church had but produced this 
school, the time and money would have been 
well spent. The Sitka Training School has been 
a veritable God-send to hundreds of Alaskan boys 
and girls. 



THE ALASKANS 123 

A hospital, with G^yq workers engaged has also 
been put into successful operation at Sitka. 

Pkince of Wales Island is the home of a 
small tribe of Klawack Indians numbering about 
three hundred. William Benson, a pupil of our 
Sitka school, first visited this little tribe. Using 
Salvation Army methods, he instructed them in 
the rudiments of Christianity, and they were won 
to a recognition of the Christian religion. Later 
on when two of our missionaries visited them, 
they were cordially received, and the people ex- 
pressed a strong desire that a missionary be sent 
to them. Their prayer has since been granted 
and successful work has been begun by Eev. and 
Mrs. David Waggoner. 

Ho ON AH lies almost directly north of Sitka. 
The tribe numbers about one thousand. In 1881 
Dr. Jackson erected a schoolhouse and teachers' 
residence among the Hoonah, and put Mr. and 
Mrs. Walter B. Styles of !N'ew York city in charge 
of the work. In 1884 Eev. and Mrs. John W. 
McFarland were sent from Wrangle to Hoonah. 
In 1894, Mr. McFarland died suddenly while at 
Juneau on business. Mrs. McFarland still kept 
charge of the school. In 1896 Rev. A. C. Austin 
was commissioned to Hoonah and in 1899 he 
was succeeded by Rev. William M. Carle and 
family. Heathen customs and drunkenness are 
the great obstacles here. The work is hindered 



124 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

also by the fact that in summer practically all 
the people leave to seek employment and pro- 
visions. Still the mission has grown and the 
church now has over one hundred members. 

Haines lies almost directly north of Hoonah. 
In 1881, a traders' station was established there, 
and the trader's wife, Mrs. Sarah Dickinson, a 
native, was engaged to teach a school. The mis- 
sion proper was commenced July 18, 1881, by 
Eev. Eugene S. Willard and family. Miss Bessie 
M. Matthews, of Monmouth, 111., opened a board- 
ing department in connection with the school in 
1883. The Willards returned to the East in 1884 
to regain their health. The mission was then 
closed, but was reopened in 1887, Mr. and Mrs. 
F. F. White being in charge. They labored for 
two years, and in 1891, Rev. William W. Warne 
and wife were sent to Haines. The discovery of 
gold led to the establishment of an American 
village in 1898. Eev. Mr. Warne remained in 
charge until January 1, 1901. Mr. Robert Fal- 
coner, a member of the church at Skaguay, suc- 
cessfully continued the work for several months 
until it was placed in charge of a Presbyterian 
elder, Mr. A. R. Macintosh. 

Jackson is the home of the Hydah Indians, 
who number eight hundred. The mission was 
so named by the missionaries in honor of Dr. 
Sheldon Jackson. In 1881 the first mission was 



THE ALASKANS 125 

established by the Board among this tribe. Mr. 
James E. Chapman had charge of the work. In 
1900 the Eev. D. K. Montgomery and wife began, 
their labors here. Splendid results have fol- 
lowed. A Sabbath school was soon organized. 
The attendance at the first service was forty-one. 
A Christian Endeavor society, organized with 
nineteen members, has grown to a membership 
of over sixty. The church has ninety-six mem- 
bers. The average attendance is one hundred. 
One-fourth of these are whites who are inter- 
ested in the mining developments of the neigh- 
borhood. The morals of the community have 
been improved and heathenish practices partially 
overcome. 

Juneau is about thirty-five miles north of 
Fort Wrangle. It is one of the larger towns of 
Alaska. Being near valuable gold mines, it is 
the site of an American mining camp. In 1882 
and 1883 Mrs. "W. H. E. Corlies taught a summer 
school here. In the spring of 1886 the Board of 
Home Missions sent Eev. Joseph P. White to 
the whites at Juneau, and Eev. E. S. Willard to 
the natives. A church for the natives was 
erected in the same year. A small house, which 
has since been replaced by a commodious build- 
ing, was erected adjacent to the church for a Mis- 
sion Home for native children. Miss Elizabeth 
Matthews and Miss Margaret Dunbar, assisted 



126 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

by Mrs. Willard, opened a flourishing school from 
which a number of children have gone to the 
training school at Sitka. Ill health compelled 
the "Willards to return to the States in 1894. 
They were succeeded by Eev. and Mrs. Livingston 
F. Jones who still occupy the field. Mr. Jones 
has been assisted for several years by Mr. 
Frederick Moore, a native who graduated at Mr. 
Moody's school at Mount Hermon, Mass. The 
rapid growth of Juneau led to the organization 
of a white church under the ministry of Eev. 
James H. Condit. A handsome church building 
and parsonage were erected. Mr. Condit was 
succeeded in 1899 by Eev. W. S. Bannerman, 
but returned to his Juneau work January 1, 1900, 
Mr. Bannerman going to Sitka to succeed Eev. 
Melzar D. McClelland, who had accepted a call 
to Portland. The native church now numbers 
about two hundred members and the white church 
twenty-five. The native church is very prosper- 
ous, large accessions being frequently made on 
confession of faith. 

Saxman is the first station reached by the 
steamers going north. This field was first vis- 
ited by Mr. James Young, the brother of the 
Eev. S. Hall Young, D. D. It is now the scene 
of the labors of Eev. Edward Marsden, our first 
native missionary in Alaska. He began his 
labors in 1898, having been fully prepared in one 



THE ALASKANS 12^ 

of our Alaska mission schools, in Marietta, Ohio, 
College, and in Lane Theological Seminary. A 
native church of twenty-three members was or- 
ganized in 1899. Mr. Marsden also visits the 
surrounding islands, being facilitated in this 
work by the possession of a steam launch, 
The Marietta^ which was the gift of generous 
friends. Mr. Marsden is a faithful, efficient and 
successful missionary to his own people. 

Skaguay is an interesting little city about 
fifteen miles north of Haines, at the head of Lynn 
Canal. In 1899 the mission there was received 
from the Canadian Presbyterian Church in ex- 
change for our mission at Dawson City. The 
Rev. and Mrs. A. B. Harrison have been our mis- 
sionaries there since June, 1899. Church prop- 
erty has been bought and paid for. It includes 
an auditorium, lecture room, and parsonage. The 
population of Skaguay is constantly changing, 
but it will always be an important strategic 
point because it is the terminus of a railroad into 
the interior. The church has become self-sup- 
porting. 

Douglas Island lies across a narrow ocean 
channel from Juneau. It is the seat of mammoth 
gold quartz reduction works. Here Mr. Moore, 
the assistant of Mr. Jones at Juneau opened an 
outstation in 1900. A building has been erected 
and the work is prospering. A number who 



128 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

have joined the church at Juneau are fruits of 
this outstation. 

Presbyterian missions in the interior of Alaska 
developed as a result of the discovery of gold in 
these regions. The money for the first enter- 
prise was furnished by the First Church of Au- 
burn, ISTew York, and the Third Church of Pitts- 
burgh. The two missionaries selected for the new 
work were Eev. S. Hall Young and Kev. George 
A. McEwen, M. D., of Farmington, Missouri. 
They sailed from Tacoma, August 22, 1897. 

Dawson City was the first interior mission. 
It was reached by Mr. Young and Dr. McEwen, 
October 8, 1897. They were cordially received 
and began their mission work at once. Men who 
were far from home seeking their fortunes wel- 
comed the missionaries and helped to build a 
church. Many of them were highly educated, 
some using their Greek Testaments in Bible 
study. A church of sixty members was organ- 
ized, and was transferred to the Canadian Pres- 
byterian Church in exchange for the Skaguay 
Mission. 

Eagle City is seven hundred miles down the 
Yukon from Dawson. The journey to it was at 
first long, tedious and dangerous ; but it is now 
in easy communication with Skaguay by rail to 
Lake Bennett, and thence by steamer down the 
Yukon. In the fall of 1898, Mr. Young visited 



THE ALASKANS 129 

Eagle City and the surrounding territory on a 
missionary tour. In 1899 Kev. and Mrs. James 
Wollaston Kirk, of Philadelphia, were sent by 
the Home Board to Eagle City. They left a 
most delightful and congenial suburban church, 
where they had every comfort and convenience, 
to brave the dangers, privations, and sufferings, 
of the northern climate. It was a great sacrifice, 
but the Lord has blessed their labors. Their 
church and home have become centers of happi- 
ness and of influence, and they are greatly be- 
loved. Of a social phase of their work Mr. Kirk 
has this to say : 

" In our mission the reading room is made 
comfortable, lighted by lamps, and supplied with 
books, leading magazines, illustrated papers, dic- 
tionaries, encyclopedias, and sundry special works. 
This room connects with our cabin by large 
sliding doors. Once each week these are thrown 
open and a musicale is given, consisting of piano 
and vocal selections, occasional recitations, orig- 
inal stories, short talks on living topics, and a 
general social evening. Summer does not inter- 
rupt them, the traveler has approved them." 

Eampaet is six hundred miles distant, down 
the Yukon from Eagle City. Eev. M. Egbert 
Koonce, Ph. D., who accompanied Mr. Kirk to 
Alaska, was stationed here in 1899. 

St. Michael is the seaport town and mill- 



130 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

tary garrison at the mouth of the Yukon. It is 
one thousand miles from Kampart. Dr. Koonce 
came here from Kampart in 1900. 

Cape JSTome is the last center of the gold dis- 
coveries. As the gold-seekers hastened hither, so 
also did the Presbyterian missionary in the person 
of Dr. S. Hall Young. He organized a self-sup- 
porting church in 1900. Thirty charter members 
were enrolled. Governor Brady and Dr. Shel- 
don Jackson were present at the organization of 
the church. Illness compelled Dr. Young to re- 
turn home in October, 1900. After regaining his 
health, he made a tour of the eastern churches 
in the interest of Alaskan mission work. The 
church at Nome was turned over to the Congre- 
gationalists — as being in their territory. Out- 
stations have been organized at Teller and 
Council, about seventy-five miles from [N'ome. 

St. Laweence Island is two hundred miles 
from Cape Nome, out in the Behring Sea. It is 
the largest island in the sea. Gambell is the 
name of our mission station on the island. It 
was named after our first missionaries there. In 
1891, Dr. Jackson visited the island. He built a 
schoolhouse and teachers' residence. In July, 
1894, Mr. Y. C. Gambell, of Wapello, Iowa, was 
sent to the island. After three years of successful 
work, he was compelled to return to Iowa on 
account of his wife's health. Her health having 



THE ALASKANS 131 

been regained they started to return in the sum- 
mer of 1899. They left Seattle May 19th, on 
the Jane Grey. Off Cape Flattery a gale was 
encountered, and the vessel sank on the 22d, Mr. 
and Mrs. Gambell with thirty others being 
drowned. Mr. Wm. F. Doty, of Princeton Theo- 
logical Seminary, had charge of the Gambell 
Mission for a time and, returning to the semi- 
nary, was succeeded by Mr. P. H. Lerrigo. 

Point Bareow " is the northernmost point of 
Alaska and perhaps the remotest and loneliest 
missionary station on the globe." It is twelve 
hundred miles round the coast from Cape JSTome. 
The long winter night lasts from November 19 th 
to January 23d. The thermometer goes very low. 
The village here consists of thirty-one families 
and one hundred and fifty people. Mrs. Elliot F. 
Shepard, of !N"ew York, generously contributed 
the money for this mission. The first teacher 
was Prof. M. L. Stevenson, of Yersailles, Ohio, who 
arrived July 30, 1890. The attendance was ir- 
regular, but the interest in learning was great. 
In 1896, Professor Stevenson returned to Ohio. 
Kev. H. Kichmond Marsh, M. D., and wife then 
took charge of the mission. Theirs was the first 
Christian home ever seen by the natives, who 
are very quick to imitate the missionaries in all 
their ways. On Easter Sabbath, 1899, a church 
was organized with thirteen native communi- 



132 PKESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

cants. In the summer of 1899, Kev. Samuel E. 
Spriggs and wife came to Point Barrow to help 
with the work. In 1901, the church had thirty 
members. Peter Koonooya, a native elder of this 
church, represented the Yukon Presbytery in the 
General Assembly at Philadelphia in 1901. He 
was enthusiastically received and made a favor- 
able impression in the Assembly, as well as be- 
ing a living testimony to the value of mission 
work. A few years ago he was a poor heathen, 
living in his snow hut on the Arctic shores, 
knowing nothing of any other life ; to-day he 
is a Christian, an elder in the Presbyterian 
Church, and has been a commissioner to its Gen- 
eral Assembly! What a transformation — and 
all the result of Christian missions ! 

The Yukon Presbytery was formed at the 
meeting of the General Assembly at St. Louis 
in 1900. It held its first meeting in August 
of the same year at ITome. It belongs to the 
Synod of Washington. Its missions are at Eagle 
City, Kampart, St. Lawrence Island, Teller, and 
Point Barrow. With two exceptions — St. Law- 
rence and Point Barrow — the missions are for 
the whites; and as long as seekers after gold 
flock to these far off regions, the missionary 
and the gospel must follow them. In these lie 
their only hope. " Again and again," says Dr. 
Young, "have I heard men testify in prayer 



THE ALASKANS 133 

meetings at Dawson and Nome to the effect that 
it was only the influence of our missions that 
kept them from drifting into the flagrant and 
abandoning vices of those wild towns." Shall 
this influence ever be removed ? 

The Woman's Boaed of Home Missions 
has been specially interested and active in 
Alaskan missions. The entire missionary force 
of southeastern Alaska is supported by the 
Woman's Board. These include the missions at 
Haines, Klukwan, Fort Wrangle, Hoonah, Jack- 
son, Klawack, Juneau, Douglas Island, Saxman, 
and Sitka. In addition to the southeastern work, 
this Board supports Kev. H. E. Marsh, M. D., at 
Point Barrow, and the Presbyterial missionary. 
The salaries of the missionaries, their helpers, the 
teachers in the schools, and the workers in the 
Sitka hospital, are all paid by the Woman's Board. 
Their field in Alaska embraces seven native and 
two white churches, in addition to the schools and 
the hospital. Alaska is thus the special charge of 
the women of our Church, and appropriately so ; 
for here the needs of the women and the children, 
which appeal especially to the sympathies of 
womankind, stand out most prominently. 

The Kev. Sheldon Jackson, D. D., LL. D., 
is the hero and pioneer missionary of Alaska. 
He accompanied Mrs. A. E. McFarland on her 
first journey to Alaska. His subsequent appeals 



134r PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

aroused the Church to the importance of Alaskan 
missions. He has been identified in some way 
with almost every mission in Alaska. In 1884, 
the Government recognizing his knowledge and 
ability appointed him General Agent of Educa- 
tion in Alaska. In 1897, the Presbyterian 
Church showed its appreciation of his distin- 
guished services and achievements by electing 
him Moderator of the General Assembly. Dr. 
Jackson is "a brother beloved, the Alaska 
pioneer, missionary, man of romantic deeds, of 
sound common sense, of quick wit and shrewd 
advice. He is to-day the best informed man 
on Alaska, her missions, and her schools, and 
as such is the trusted official of our Govern- 
ment." 

The Eev. S. Hall Young, D. D., stands next 
to Dr. Jackson in prominence in Alaska Presby- 
terian missions. He became identified with the 
Fort Wrangle work in 1878, and with some in- 
terruptions has been identified with Alaskan 
missions ever since. In 1883 he carried the re- 
quest to the General Assembly at Saratoga for 
the formation of the Presbytery of Alaska ; and 
in 1900 a similar request to the St. Louis Assem- 
bly for the formation of the Presbytery of 
Yukon. Dr. Young has been the special hero of 
the interior missions. He led the way to the 
gold fields and largely through his personal 



THE ALASKANS 135 

efforts the interior missions have been started 
and their support provided for. 

In Hon. tfoHN G. Brady, the Presbyterian 
Church of Alaska has provided the Territory 
with a faithful and efficient governor. He went 
to the Territory in 1878 as our missionary to 
Sitka, and in 1884 he was appointed governor. 
In his elevation to office Mr. Brady lost none of 
his interest in missions. They have always had 
his deepest sympathy and heartiest cooperation. 

Alaska appeals to us as Christians, as Pres- 
byterians, and as Americans. It is a field where 
thousands of benighted heathen need and want 
the gospel. The Presbyterian Church was the 
pioneer in Alaskan mission work, and having be- 
gun a good work we should carry it on to the 
end. "If the Presbyterian Church," says Dr. 
Young, "the pioneer of Alaska, the Church to 
which the people look for spiritual help as to 
no other, is true to her past history and to her 
obligations, she will send a consecrated minister 
of the gospel to the van of every army rushing 
to the gold fields of Alaska." Alaska is now 
American territory and appeals to us as patriotic 
Americans. It is destined to become " a great 
land," indeed ; and perhaps to form one or more 
states in the American Union ! " When Secre- 
tary Seward lay dying, he was asked what he 
regarded the greatest act of his life. He replied, 



136 PRESBYTEEIA]Sr HOME MISSIONS 

* The purchase of Alaska. But it will take the 
people a generation to find it out.' The genera- 
tion has passed — and the people have found it 
out." The boundless natural resources of Alaska 
are appreciated to-day. Let the Church also ap- 
preciate its spiritual opportunities. Let us 
"see our chance from the entering in at the 
glacier gates to the land of the Midnight Sun, 
within the Arctic Circle ! We have paid seven 
million dollars for the land. We must pay our 
faith and service and sacrifice for its true fitness 
to take its starred place in our flag." 



Y 

THE MORMOl^S 



CHAPTEK Y 

THE MORMONS 

In 1825, Joseph Smith, an obscure young man 
of twenty years of age, without education and 
without fortune, lived in the town of Manchester, 
New York. For several years he had been a 
religious enthusiast and had dreams of himself as 
the founder of a new religion. In 1831 his 
dreams began to be realized — he became the head 
of a sect numbering six persons. In a few years 
this number had increased to thirty ; after seventy 
years, many of them characterized by thrilling 
vicissitudes, this sect to-day numbers over three 
hundred thousand, has its own Bible, and its 
zealous missionaries in every part of the world. 
Its Bible is the " Book of Mormon " ; it calls it- 
self " The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter 
Day Saints " ; but the outside world knows it as 
Mormonism. 

Joseph Smith, the founder and prophet of 
Mormonism, was born in Sharon, Windsor 
County, Vermont, December 3, 1805. He had 
six brothers and three sisters. In 1815 his father 
moved to Palmyra, New York, and thence to 

139 



140 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

Manchester, a neighboring town. Here the fu- 
ture prophet spent a number of years. He was 
a farmer by occupation, and outside of being able 
to read and write, his education was very limited. 
In 1820 great religious interest was aroused in 
Manchester and the surrounding neighborhood. 
Five of the Smith family became Presbyterians. 
Joseph according to his own account "became 
somewhat partial to the Methodists," but was 
bidden by two heavenly visitors not to join any 
sect. He spent much time in solitude, in medita- 
tion, and in prayer. On September 22, 1823, he 
was visited by a third celestial messenger who 
told him about golden plates he was to find, and 
revealed to him that he was to become a prophet. 
From this time, he states that his days and 
nights were filled, and his life was guided, by 
"visions," "voices," and "angels." On Septem- 
ber 22, 1827, under celestial guidance he exhumed 
the golden plates, and took them to his home. 
He found them buried in the hill Cumorah, 
about four miles from Manchester, between Man- 
chester and Palmyra. The contents were written 
in "reformed Egyptian." For more than two 
years Smith was engaged by the aid of " Urim 
and Thummim " in translating them into English. 
In March, 1830, the translation was completed 
and placed in the printer's hand. After the 
translation an angel took charge of the original 



THE MORMONS 141 

plates. This translation Smith gave to the world 
as the " Book of Mormon," and it has ever since 
been the Bible of the " Latter Day Saints." Such 
is the history of the origin of the " Book of Mor- 
mon " as given by Smith and his followers. 

The true story of the " Book of Mormon " is, 
however, undoubtedly very difiFerent. The basis 
of it was written by one Solomon Spaulding, a 
Presbyterian minister who lived successively in 
eastern Ohio, Pittsburgh and at Amity, a rural 
community not far from Pittsburgh. Spaulding 
was under the illusion that the American In- 
dians were the descendants of the ten tribes of 
Israel. In time of infirm health, he wrote a 
romance to confirm this view and called it The 
Manuscrij>t Found. In this book there was 
much repetition of scriptural phrases, such as " it 
came to pass" and the frequent use of such 
names as Lehi, I^ephi, Moroni, and Lamarites. 
At Amity, where Spaulding frequently read 
chapters of his story to his neighbors, he was 
called " Old man came to pass." "While in Pitts- 
burgh Spaulding became acquainted with the 
editor of The Presbyterian Banner. He asked 
him to publish his romance, and it lay for two 
years in the Banner office. At the same time 
Sidney Kigdon, who became second to Smith 
among the Mormons, then a Baptist minister, 
was employed in the Banner office. He read 



142 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

The Manuscript Found and is known to have 
had it in his possession for a time and to have 
taken a copy of it. Eev. Julius Winters, also a 
Baptist minister, testifies that he saw a copy of 
Spaulding's The Manuscript Found in Kigdon's 
house in Pittsburgh in 1822-23. Eigdon visited 
Palmyra about the same time and became a 
friend of Smith's and joined the Mormons soon 
after their organization. 

That The Manuscript Found is the principal 
basis of the Book of Mormon is unquestioned by 
those who ought to be able to speak with au- 
thority upon the subject. People of western 
Pennsylvania to whom Spaulding had read his 
manuscript recognized it immediately when they 
heard of the Book of Mormon. As many as fifty 
persons have sworn to the fact of the similarity 
of the two books. Among these were Spaulding's 
widow, his brother, and his daughter. In 1880, 
Mrs. M. S. McKistry, Spaulding's daughter, in a 
sworn statement testified that the original manu- 
script was secured from her in 1834 by a man 
named Hurlburt, upon the representation that he 
wanted to compare it with the Book of Mormon. 
All evidence shows that Hurlburt was a Mor- 
mon, and that the manuscript was secured and 
probably destroyed in the interest of the Mormon 
Church. 

The man Mormon according to Mormon eccle- 



THE MORMONS 143 

siastical history was a E'ephite leader and the 
last of the sacred prophets in ancient America. 
Mormon perished in a battle with the Lamarites 
in 420 A. D. Both these tribes had descended 
from the family of Lehi, a member of the 
Israelitish tribe of Manasseh, which came to 
America 600 B. o. In the battle in which Mor- 
mon fell the Nephites were practically exter- 
minated. The Lamarites alone occupied the 
country and their descendants are the American 
Indians. On golden plates Mormon wrote the 
history, faith, and prophecies, of these ancient in- 
habitants of America. These plates Mormon 
intrusted to his son Moroni. Moroni survived 
the battle with the Lamarites and was the last 
of his race. Before dying he " laid up " the 
golden plates in the hill of Cumorah, the scene 
of the last battle of the Nephites. Here they 
v/ere revealed to Joseph Smith. They contain 
the accounts of the migrations from Palestine to 
America, and record the visits of Christ to these 
early Americans, to whom he repeated the Ser- 
mon on the Mount, appointed twelve apostles, 
and gave personal instruction in the subject of 
the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. 
The Book of Mormon has been supplemented 
by "The Book of Doctrines and Covenants." 
This book contains the revelations to Joseph 
Smith and Brigham Young. These, with the 



144 PRESBYTERIATT HOME MISSIONS 

Bible, form the Mormon Scriptures. They con- 
sider the Old Testament as being specially for 
the Jews, the ITew Testament for the Judaic 
and European Christian Church, the Book of 
Mormon for the American Christian Church, and 
the Book of Doctrines and Covenants specially 
for themselves. 

The history of the development and spread of 
Mormonism has been most remarkable. The 
Mormon religion, if it may be so called, began 
with the experiences and achievements of Joseph 
Smith. January 18, 1829, he married Emma Hale 
against her parents' wishes. The Mormon 
Church was organized April 6, 1830, at Fayette, 
Seneca County, ISTew York at the home of a con- 
vert named Whitmer. Six members were en- 
rolled — the prophet, two of his brothers, two 
Whitmers and Oliver Cowdery, a school-teacher. 
Cowdery had become Smith's amanuensis in 

1829. On May 15, 1829, by the command of an 
angelic messenger, who called himself John the 
Baptist, Smith baptized Cowdery and Cowdery 
baptized him. Afterwards they ordained each 
other to the Aaronic priesthood. Smith later 
received the Melchizedec priesthood from the 
Apostles John, James, and Peter. In December, 

1830, Sidney Kigdon, who had secured for Smith 
the copy of The Manuscript Found, announced 
himself as a convert. " Rigdon was erratic, but 



THE MORMONS 145 

eloquent; self-opinionated, but versed in the 
Scriptures ; and in literary culture and intellec- 
tual force was the greatest man among the early 
Mormons." From this point on the sect grew 
very rapidly. 

The first " gathering place " of the saints was 
at Kirkland, Ohio, near a former pastoral charge 
of Kigdon. The settlement was made here in 
1831. In the same year, Jackson County, Mis- 
souri, became the seat of another " gathering." 
But wherever the Mormons collected trouble at 
once arose. Their claims to particular sainthood, 
their peculiar doctrines, and their united social 
and political action, aroused great antagonism. 
In 184:3, they nominated Smith and Eigdon for 
President and Yice-president of the United States ! 
" Everywhere the outcome was the same — expul- 
sion and banishment, with more or less out- 
rageous violence." In 1833, the Jackson County 
settlement, numbering 1,200, was driven into 
Clay County; in 1836, into Caldwell County, 
and in 1839, out of the State of Missouri entirely. 
In 1838, those settled at Kirkland were driven 
from Ohio. Then all fled and founded Nauvoo, 
on the Mississippi Eiver, in Illinois. 

The l^auvoo settlement lasted for ^ve years 
and was the scene of stirring events and a com- 
plete change in leadership. In a little while a 
considerable town was built up and a spacious 



146 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

temple erected. Joseph Smith here reached the 
zenith of his powers as the Mormon prophet. 
However, the opposition to the Mormons did not 
cease. The surrounding counties were bitter in 
their hostility and persecution. Great indigna- 
tion was aroused over the introduction of the 
" spiritual wife " doctrine. An opposition paper, 
The Expositor^ was started at Nauvoo. In the 
first number it printed the names of sixteen 
women who testified to the effect that Joseph 
Smith, Sidney Kigdon, and others, had endeavored 
to lead them to become " spiritual wives " under 
the plea of special revelations from heaven. The 
Mormons were aroused. The editors of The Ex- 
positor were driven out of Nauvoo, and the news- 
paper office was razed to the ground. The 
editors sought redress in the courts. Joseph 
Smith, Hyram Smith, his brother, and two others, 
were arrested and thrown into prison at Carthage, 
a near-by village. Here they were attacked by a 
mob and the two Smiths were murdered, Jan- 
uary 27, 1844. The blood of Joseph Smith, to a 
great degree, became the seed of the Mormon 
Church. The halo of martyrdom was cast about 
his death. The dissentions in the Church, Smith's 
puerile and repeated " revelations," and the de- 
grading social conditions, were rapidly working 
disintegration. But all these influences were 
offset by Smith's unfortunate and unjustifiable 



THE MORMONS 147 

murder. Brigham Young, the President of the 
"twelve apostles," hurried from the East to 
Nauvoo and succeeded Smith. " He was strong 
where Smith was weak — in prudence, sagacity, 
common sense, practical energy. He wasted no 
time in getting and giving ' revelations.' Only 
one ' revelation ' is on record as promulgated by 
him." 

Smith's death, even, did not allay the opposi- 
tion to Mormonism. The new leader soon saw 
that the " saints " must leave Nauvoo. The ex- 
odus began in the early spring of 1846. Their 
chief • encampment was what is now Council 
Bluffs, which they called "Winter Quarters." 
In 1847, Brigham Young and one hundred and 
forty-two pioneers pushed resolutely westward 
for eleven hundred miles to the Great Salt Lake 
Yalley. They arrived there July 24, 1847. 
That day has since been a great day for cele- 
bration to the Utah Mormons, quite eclipsing 
July 4. Some wintered in the valley, but Young 
and a few others came back to " Winter Quar- 
ters." In 1848, Young with four thousand fol- 
lowers returned to Utah and " there he lived and 
ruled in right kingly manner for thirty years, 
dying August 29, 1877." After Young's death, 
the leadership devolved upon the president of the 
" twelve apostles," several of whom have since 
held the first position among the " saints." 



148 PEESBYTERIAK HOME MISSIONS 

From the very beginning Mormonism has 
flourished in Utah. Missionaries have been com- 
pelled, at their own expense, to go all over the 
world preaching their doctrines. In 1849, a 
" Perpetual Emigration Fund," which has some- 
times been enormously large, was established to 
make it possible for poor " saints " to come to 
Utah from any part of the world. As soon as 
possible after arrival they are required to reim- 
burse the Emigration Fund to the extent of their 
benefaction. Salt Lake City has grown to be a 
large city. The Territory, increased in popula- 
tion, has been admitted into the Union as a State. 

This rapid growth of Mormonism is only an- 
other illustration of " the truth that no absurdity 
of fanaticism is too outrageous to attract be- 
lievers. The learned and the unlearned, the rich 
and the poor, the gentle and the simple, alike 
break through the trammels of reason and honor 
the dupes of religious impostors or of persons 
who are more dangerous — the religious maniacs 
Avho strengthen their cause by their conscientious 
belief in it." Many things worked together to 
spread Mormonism in spite of its falsity. Smith's 
doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ was at- 
tractive to some. Its missionaries were enthu- 
siastic and zealous. Eeligious and biblical terms 
were used by them but their difference in mean- 
ing was not explained. Mormonism was splen- 



THE MORMONS 149 

didly organized. Polygamy was no small factor. 
It attracted people of certain character and by 
ostracizing the Mormons from all other social re- 
lations made them compact and therefore strong. 
These elements of growth are still being utilized 
to advantage the world over and the present 
progress of this heresy and delusion is one of its 
most alarming features. 

Ecclesiastically, Mormonism is an organized 
hierarchy of the most despotic character. It is 
both a Church and a State, under the supreme 
control of a hierarchy, whose powers and prerog- 
atives have never been excelled by any other re- 
ligious sect or order. Mormonism as an eccle- 
siastical despotism out-Jesuits Jesuitism. The 
priesthood consists of two classes : the Melchize- 
dec and the Aaronic. The Melchizedec priest- 
hood, which is the higher, includes the offices of 
apostle, seventy, patriarch or evangelist, high 
priest, and elder. All of these officers are elders. 
They preach, baptize, ordain other elders, and 
also priests, teachers, and deacons, administer the 
Lord's Supper, lay on hands for the gift of the 
Holy Ghost, bless children, and lead the meetings. 
These elders, when commanded to do so, must go 
at their own expense to any part of the world as 
missionaries. 

The Aaronic priesthood includes the offices of 
bishop, priest, teacher, and deacon. The bishop 



150 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

is both a spiritual and temporal officer. The 
priest's duty is to preach, to baptize, administer 
the Communion, and to visit and exhort the 
saints. The teacher is the Mormon class-leader, 
and the deacon is his assistant. 

The president of the church is the head of all 
affairs, both temporal and spiritual. With his 
two counselors he forms the First Presidency, 
and his authority is supreme. Then come the 
apostles, seventy, patriarchs, and so on down the 
line. Mormonism has its own judiciary and sys- 
tem of appeals. Every city, ward, or country 
district, has its bishop, who with his two coun- 
selors, form the bishop's court. Every city or 
" stake " — a chief town and surrounding towns 
— has its president with two counselors. Each 
president has also a high council of chosen men. 
Between these high councils and the First Presi- 
dency is the High Council, consisting of twelve 
high priests pertaining to the First Presidency. 
Appeals may be taken from one court to another 
until it reaches the First Presidency, which is the 
last court of appeal, and whose decision is su- 
preme and absolute. The ecclesiastical system is 
supported financially by tithing. Eich and poor 
must give their tenth to the Church and thus 
millions of dollars are raised for the support of this 
monster octopus, which holds the spiritual, social 
and political lives of its adherents in its hands. 



THE MOEMONS 151 

Theologically, Mormomsm " is made up of a 
most singular congeries of dogmas and absurdi- 
ties, some coined from the ignorant and pre- 
sumptuous brain of the impostor Smith ; some 
gathered from the ancient Gnostic and Platonic 
theories in reference to the creation of the world 
by ^ons, or the moving element in water ; some 
derived from the Brahmin mysticisms on the sub- 
ject of the independence of God ; some from the 
slough of Mohammedan sensualism ; some from 
oriental theories in reference to the transmigra- 
tion of the soul ; and a few from the pure and 
divine revelations of the Bible." Compared to 
such conglomerations " even the ancient heathen- 
ism of Greece and Eome, were beautiful, instruct- 
ive, and elevating." Theoretically the Bible is 
one of their books, but practically it has no place 
among them. They believe in baptism by im- 
mersion; no children under eight years of age 
are baptized. They confirm by laying on of 
hands. The Lord's Supper is observed weekly, 
water being used instead of wine, in accordance 
with a "revelation" to Smith. The Mormons 
believe and teach that God was once a man, and 
that all men may become gods ! " Adam," said 
Brigham Young, "is our father and our God, 
and the only God with whom we have to do." 
Christ, according to their theology, is the Son of 
God, yet another and a different substance from 



152 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

the Father. The Holy Spirit is not a person, but 
only an influence or emanation. They also be- 
lieve in the preexist ence of the soul, the millen- 
nium, baptism for the dead, polygamy, miracles, 
and tithing. These are not only the doctrines of 
the past but the doctrines of the present. They 
are being taught to-day wherever the voice of 
Mormonism is heard, and should be strenuously 
opposed until they are completely overthrown. 

Socially, Mormonisn is a dark blot upon Chris- 
tian civilization. Its doctrines of polygamy and 
"spiritual wives" have brought forth terrible 
fruits. Polygamy was not at first a doctrine of 
Mormonism. It is even forbidden in the Book 
of Mormon. The earlier revelations of Smith dis- 
tinctly reprobated it. It is said, however, to 
have been sanctioned in a revelation to Smith at 
Nauvoo, July 12, 1843 : but it was not promul- 
gated until the fall of 1852. This was done by 
Brigham Young at Salt Lake City. The " spirit- 
ual wife " doctrine by which a woman already 
married may become spiritually and secretly the 
wife of another beside her husband was an 
emanation from Smith, Rigdon, and others, at 
Nauvoo. When Utah was admitted to the Union 
polygamy was prohibited in the State. But the 
making and execution of laws against the prac- 
tice devolved upon the Legislature of Utah, the 
members of which are Mormons. The Mormon 



THE MOEMONS 153 

hierarchy professed to acquiesce in this restric- 
tion. State laws were passed prohibiting polyg- 
amy, but, by missionaries who live in Utah and 
do not simply see Mormonism on dress parade 
for a day in Salt Lake City, it is claimed that the 
Constitutional enactment against polygamy is a 
dead letter and is not enforced by the Mormon 
officials. It is also declared by those who are in 
position to know that while " the Mormon Church 
does not just at this time dare to openly preach 
this doctrine yet it is secretly taught and prac- 
ticed throughout the State of Utah and other 
states." It is this which makes imperative an 
amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States against polygamy. Polygamy w^ould then 
become a national crime, the national Govern- 
ment would enforce the law against it and punish 
all its offenders. 

Politically, Mormonism is a grave peril to any 
government under which it exists. It has always 
exercised civil powers and prerogatives and has 
frequently boasted that its authority would be- 
come supreme in the United States. Mormonism 
has never had any love for the United States 
Government. It has always held the Govern- 
ment responsible for Smith's death and the per- 
secutions of the East. In 1850 Brigham Young 
refusing to be succeeded as Governor of Utah led 
an open revolt against the United States Govern- 



154 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

ment and drove out its officials. He successfully 
resisted official decapitation until 1858, when 
President Buchanan's appointee for governor 
was allowed to take his seat. An armed force 
was kept in Utah until 1860 when it was removed. 
" Like a huge octopus, the Mormon hierarchy 
is fastening its tentacles throughout the Kocky 
Mountain states, and is sapping from its devotees 
the very life-blood of American freedom. By 
means of a systematic colonization and the rapid 
increase of population through plural wives the 
Mormon Church already holds the balance of 
political power in seven or eight Eocky Mountain 
states and territories. For many years Mormon- 
ism has been quietly but rapidly acquiring vast 
tracts of the best land all through these states 
on which to settle Mormon emigrants who prac- 
tically become helpless vassals of the Church. 
Already Mormon emigration is pouring beyond 
into Montana, Washington, and California. The 
Mormon leaders boast that they will not only 
hold the lalance of political power in these 
states, but will dictate their own terms to the 
national Government. '* The danger of Mor- 
monism as a political despotism is not fully real- 
ized by the American people. The nation needs 
to become aroused, in order that the danger may 
be averted, before it can only be done by a seri- 
ous conflict. 



THE MOEMONS 156 

With such an ecclesiastical, religious, social 
and political monstrosity in our land, it was not 
surprising that the Church should raise its voice 
against it, and should try to counteract and to 
destroy its pernicious influences. The Church 
always and rightfully leads in assaults against 
evil. The voices of churchmen were heard 
against slavery before those of statesmen, and in 
the final act of emancipation, the inspiring in- 
fluence back of the statesman was a clergyman. 
Christianity, patriotism, and humanity, appealed 
to the Church to gird itself against Mormonism, 
the common enemy of them all, and by "the 
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God " 
to reclaim the deluded saints and undermine and 
destroy the ecclesiastical and political despotism. 
The Church heard the call and responded to its 
duty and its opportunity. Missions to the Mor- 
mons have long been an established fact and are 
destined more and more to become a powerful 
factor in checking and overcoming the degrad- 
ing influences of Satan's crowning invention in 
the nineteenth century — Mormonism. 

Presbyterian missionaries were among the 
pioneer workers in Utah. They exposed Mor- 
monism — " its inherent depravity, its fanaticism, 
its anti- American ways, and its corrupting in- 
fluence upon the adjacent territories in such a 
way as to arrest the attention of Congress, rouse 



166 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

the Protestant churclies, enlist the public press, 
and the two great political parties." Besides 
our own Church, the other religious denomina- 
tions at work among the Mormons are the 
Methodists, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, 
Baptists, M. E. Scandinavians, Christians, and 
Lutherans. The Presbyterians and Methodists are 
far in the lead of other Protestant denominations 
in the number of their missionaries, missions, 
schools, church members, and scholars. 

The first Presbyterian missionary to Utah was 
the Kev. M. Hughes, who began work at Corrine 
in August, 1869. Here he succeeded in organiz- 
ing our first church in Utah. Preliminary visits 
in the interest of Presbyterian missions had been 
made by Kev. Henry Kendall D. D., Secretary 
of the Home Board, and by Kev. Sheldon Jack- 
son, D. D. Dr. Kendall made his visit in 1864. 
He was followed by Dr. Jackson who explored 
the Territory and opened the way for the first 
missionary in the person of Mr. Hughes. Salt 
Lake City, the capital, was naturally the second 
scene of our labors. It was visited by Kev. Josiah 
Welch in 1871 and a church of ten members was 
organized in IS'ovember of the same year. A 
church building was erected in 1874. In the 
basement of this building, Salt Lake Collegiate 
Institute was opened in 1875 by Prof. I. M. 
Coyner, under whose management it grew to 



THE MOEMONS 157 

be one of the finest schools in Utah. Valuable 
and beautiful property has since been acquired. 
In 1870, there was one Presbyterian missionary 
in Utah ; in 1871, two; in 1875, four missionaries 
and five congregations. 

The year 1875 was signalized by the opening 
of the first interior mission. In February of that 
year the Eev. D. J. McMillan, D. D., " went down 
into the heart of the Territory and settled at 
Mount Pleasant. At the risk of his life he con- 
tinued to preach and to teach until he accepted 
the Presidency of the College of Montana at Deer 
Lodge," in 1884. Dr. McMillan did a great work 
in interior Utah. In April, 1875, he opened a 
school, with thirty Mormon pupils. At the time 
of his retirement the number had increased to one 
hundred and fifty. Writing of his experiences 
and labors in 1881, he said : "When I reached this 
populous valley, March 3, 1875, I found myself 
one hundred and twenty miles away from any 
Christian — not one professing Christian among 
seventeen thousand, who lived and moved and 
had their being in this valley. The entire non- 
Mormon element had come out from the Mor- 
mon Church and were avowed enemies of all 
religion. Spurned by many of the household of 
faith, (who did not believe in Mormon missions) 
despised and cursed by the Mormon priests and 
apostles, I was impelled by the promises of God 



168 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

and drawn by the prospect of seventeen thousand 
without another voice to declare a Saviour's love 
to them. Oh ! those days seem now to be but 
strange visions of the past ! Out of those trying 
and perilous days, and through the then dark 
and portentous future, God has surely led us. 
Five hundred children and youth have passed 
under our instruction and influence and now call 
us blessed. The circle of young people has been 
revolutionized. A church, whose roll contains 
forty-two names, has grown up. Three other 
churches, in as many neighboring towns are part 
of the immediate results. The establishment and 
maintenance of twenty schools in purely Mor- 
mon communities, in an unbroken line of four 
hundred miles north and south, with fifteen 
hundred children of Mormon parentage thus 
brought under gospel influences and the distribu- 
tion of thousands of copies of the word of God, 
where before it was unknown, are part of the 
whole fruits ! * What hath God wrought ! ' And 
now a score of towns have caught a glimpse of 
gospel light. Our hymns of praise are cheering 
the firesides of innumerable homes. They are 
hummed by the busy housewife and by the toil- 
ing mother. Fragments of the refrains are 
whistled along the streets, and are caught up by 
plodding plowmen. They echo among the moun- 
tain forests, and are sung along dusty deserts. 



THE MOEMONS 159 

All Utah reverberates with songs of redeeming 
grace. God grant that the words they sing 
shall become the sentiments of their hearts! 
Who shall say that the time and money have 
been misspent ? " What a record to be crowded 
into the brief space of six years ! And yet but 
the history of thousands of our efficient and 
consecrated missionaries the world over of 
whom the world never knows. But He knows 
and " the Father that seeth in secret shall reward 
in the open." 

From 1875 Presbyterian mission work among 
the Mormons made rapid advancement. Two 
special causes contributed to this result. The 
first was opposition, which only increased our 
efforts ; and the second was the opening of the 
Union and Central Pacific Eailroads. 

In 1880 our missionaries in Utah had increased 
to ten ; in 1881 to thirteen ; and in 1882 to nine- 
teen. In this year great progress was made " in 
winning the good opinion of the young people." 
The Mormon Church was now so thoroughly 
aroused and alarmed that it flooded Utah with 
its representatives who were to reclaim and 
stimulate the wavering and wandering saints. 
In 1883 our work consisted of nineteen ordained 
ministers; twelve organized churches, with a 
membership of three hundred and ten; thirty- 
three mission schools, with an enrollment of over 



160 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

two thousand, and fifty-three teachers, six of 
whom had been educated in our mission schools. 
In 1886, there were nineteen missionaries, seventy 
teachers, thirty-eight schools, over four hundred 
church members, and two thousand pupils, three- 
fourths of whom were Mormon children. In 
1887 Salt Lake Collegiate Institute had two hun- 
dred and ninety-eight pupils. In 1890 the schools 
numbered thirty, the teachers ninety-nine, the 
pupils two thousand three hundred and seventy- 
four, and the missionaries twenty-one. In 1892 
the school work was marked by "crowded at- 
tendance and powerful revivals." In 1893, the 
General Assembly divided the Synod of Mon- 
tana and organized the Synod of Utah. In this 
year also the synodical missionary made the fol- 
lowing encouraging report : " The barriers of 
bigotry and prejudice are slowly yielding to the 
contact of Christian life and teaching. This was 
impressively illustrated recently when we were 
invited to hold in the Mormon Temple the fun- 
eral services of a beloved fellow-worker, who 
had gone to his rest. The service was largely 
attended by the Mormon people. Every year 
adds new churches to our roll where the mission- 
ary's work is bearing fruit." 

In 1895 we had in Utah twenty-three mission- 
aries, thirty schools, seventy teachers, and two 
thousand seven hundred pupils. In 1896 Sheldon 



THE MORMONS 161 

Jackson College was established at Salt Lake 
City. In 1900-1901 " the excitement occasioned 
by the expulsion of B. H. Koberts from Congress 
greatly interfered with the work in Utah and 
Idaho. Yet many Mormon parents in spite of 
the prohibition of the church authorities and 
threats of excommunication should they disobey, 
still persisted in sending their children to our 
schools. Thus there have been added to the 
young men and young women, who have gone 
out in previous years from these schools, a goodly 
number, who have learned the better way, and 
who, let us hope and pray, will in due time be 
brought to Christ and will help in the great 
work of redeeming Utah from the curse of Mor- 
-monism." Our present missionary force in Utah 
consists of twenty-one missionaries, twenty-five 
churches, more than six hundred church mem- 
bers, twenty -five Sabbath schools, with an enroll- 
ment of fifteen hundred, and a corps of teachers 
numbering fifty-eight. From thirty to fifty 
thousand young people have been under the in- 
fluence of our work and workers. 

The school work of Utah has been of especial 
importance. The children of Utah are our main 
hope. The older people cling to Mormonism, or 
if they find it false they drift into atheism. 
This is one of the sad results of a false religion. 
Its devotees when they find it false usually take 



162 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

refuge in atheism. Our school system for Utah 
was planned in 1875. An academy was to be 
established in each of the important valleys and 
to be surrounded by a group of primary mission 
schools. At the head of the system stood the 
Collegiate Institute of Salt Lake City, which was 
designed to become a college, as soon as sufficient 
endowment could be obtained. This part of the 
plan has been partially changed. Sheldon Jack- 
son College at Salt Lake City, established in 
1896, has become the head of our school system 
in Utah, and Collegiate Institute is now practic- 
ally " The Preparatory Department of Sheldon 
Jackson College." Otherwise these early plans 
have been materialized, and the school work 
carried on under the control of the Woman's 
Board, has been most efficient and successful. 
" The Academy of ITew Jersey " was established 
at Logan, and has to-day six teachers, twenty- 
four boarding pupils and one hundred and forty- 
two day pupils. The Collegiate Institute estab- 
lished at Salt Lake City in 1875, has to-day 
seven teachers, seventy-eight boarding pupils and 
thirty-six day pupils. Sheldon Jackson College 
was established at Salt Lake City in 1896. It is 
the best known and highest standard educational 
institution in the Great Basin. Hungerford 
Academy, at Springville, Utah, has six teachers 
and fifteen boarding pupils and one hundred 



THE MOEMONS 163 

and eighty-four day pupils. Kound these centers 
of educational training and influence the primary 
schools have been arranged. There are twenty 
of these to-day, with an enrollment of one thou- 
sand and engaging the services of about forty 
teachers. 

But what have been the results of our mission- 
ary activities in the stronghold of Mormonism ? 
Considering the great odds against which we 
have labored and the immense difficulties under 
which the work has been done the results have 
been most gratifying. The effort has been quiet, 
persistent and determined and in the providence 
of God not in vain. 

A recent report of the Home Board to the 
General Assembly declares that the most san- 
guine predictions of our work in Utah have been 
more than fulfilled. " The powerful missionary 
agencies are riving the stupendous system to 
atoms. Mission schools have led to public 
schools. Preaching has resulted in hundreds of 
conversions and the organization of many 
churches. Evangelization has resulted in civili- 
zation and the loyalty exemplified and enforced 
has enlightened popular sentiment and made 
possible the enforcement of wholesome laws. 
The Territory has become a State ; the pledges 
which she gave and upon which she was admitted 
to the Union derive value from the character of 



164 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

the generation which have been in training since 
our mission work began. Many of the young 
people who have been reached by our schools 
have renounced the doctrine of Mormonism ; a 
still larger number have had their faith shaken 
though they have remained in the Church; 
others have come out bravely for Christ no 
matter what it has cost to do so." Hundreds of 
girls who have attended our schools have refused 
to become polygamous wives, and the young 
men have asserted their independence of ecclesi- 
astical authority. These young people are 
friendly to Christianity. They have learned that 
there is a better way than Mormonism, socially, 
politically, and religiously, and a little persistent 
effort will lead them to accept that way. But 
let us not be lulled to sleep by visions of what 
has already been done. That work, though so 
great, has largely been but a preparatory skir- 
mish before the real battle. The conflict is still 
on and it must be continued until all the children 
and young people of Utah have been won to the 
pure and saving gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Utah appeals with peculiar pathos to all inter- 
ested in Christian missions. It is an ideal mission 
field. The people are there by the thousands. 
They are in ignorance, in superstition, and in 
irreligion. They are easily accessible in great 
numbers. No new tongue must be learned to 



THE MOEMONS 166 

preach the gospel to them. Their own best in- 
terests as well as those of our homes, of society, 
of our land, and of our Church, demand their 
reclaim from the degrading superstitions of Mor- 
monism. Can we resist such an appeal? Let 
us not even try ; but rather in the spirit of the 
Master let us be willing to spend and be spent in 
winning the souls of these deluded thousands to 
his cross and his crown. 




By per. of Woman's Board of Home Missions 



TYPICAL MOUNTAINEERS 



YI 
THE MOUJ^TAINEEES 



CHAPTEE YI 

THE MOUNTAINEEES 

The southwestern part of the Appalachian 
Mountain system is inhabited by one of the most 
interesting and important of the exceptional popu- 
lations of the United States. President Roose- 
velt, in " The Winning of the "West " calls their 
ancestors " back- woodsmen of the AUeghanies." 
Secretary Thompson denominates them " Our 
Highlanders," and by a distinguished Southerner, 
Editor WalterH. Page, of the Atlantic Monthly, 
the inhabitant of this region has been called 
" The Forgotten Man." But the most common 
name for this class in missionary circles is that 
of Mountaineers or the Mountain people of the 
South. 

The territory occupied by the mountaineers 
lies principally in the States of Korth Carolina, 
Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia. The 
entire region has been estimated to be five hun- 
dred miles long and two hundred and fifty miles 
wide. It includes many counties and by the 
census of 1900 had a population of two million, 

169 



170 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

six hundred and fifty-seven thousand, four hun- 
dred and ninety-seven. 

Two distinct and separate classes of people 
occupy this district. First there is the " valley 
folk " — an intelligent, cultivated class, living on 
fertile farms along the river banks or beside rail- 
road tracks and possessing the comforts and ad- 
vantages of civilization. In the second place 
there is the true mountaineer with whom the 
missionary has to do. He lives in his cabin home 
remote from the village and back in the trough- 
like valleys and upon the mountain sides. With 
great difficulty he makes a livelihood by the prac- 
tice of rude agriculture and by hunting. The 
population of this class is about two millions. 

The industrial, educational, moral and religious 
character and condition of these two millions of 
mountaineers is pathetic and appealing. 

Their chief industrial occupation is farming, 
but it is carried on in the crudest and simplest 
fashion. Their farming implements, such as 
wooden plows, and their road vehicles — the ox- 
cart being the principal one, — are at least three- 
quarters of a century behind our age. As is cus- 
tomary among uncivilized people, the women 
and children do the bulk of the work. The women 
not only perform the simple domestic duties, 
such as spinning wool and making the clothes 
for the family, but also do more than their share 



THE MOUNTAINEERS lYl 

of " clarin' " land. This means that they chop 
doTvn trees, burn stumps, and throw off the stones, 
that the land may be thus prepared for cultiva- 
tion. This labor on the part of the women is a 
necessary result of the shiftlessness and laziness 
of the mountaineer men. Laziness and shiftless- 
ness are characteristic of the men. They live 
from day to day and literally practice the 
scriptural injunction, " Take no thought for the 
morrow." Even wood is seldom prepared for the 
winter's cold ; and when the thermometer falls 
to zero, as it often does, the children are com- 
pelled to go out in the cold to gather Tvood to 
keep a blazing fire on the hearth. 

The humbleness of their method of living is 
pathetic. It shows evidences of great poverty, 
the inevitable accompaniment of laziness and 
shiftlessness. Extreme poverty is everywhere 
manifest. Their houses are usually log cabins, 
containing but one room, about fifteen by twenty 
feet. Here- live the entire family, — parents, chil- 
dren, and ofttimes grandparents. The family 
very often numbers from six to eight persons, 
and in this one room all visitors must be enter- 
tained. Eating, sleeping, working, and enter- 
taining, are limited to this one apartment, having 
no windows and but one door. The principal 
kitchen utensils are an iron stew-pot and tea- 
kettle and some coarse crockery. The furniture 



1Y2 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

consists mainly of a table, a few rude chairs, and 
mattresses. The men dress in border costume 
— slouch hat, homespun shirt, and trousers of 
home-made jeans, leather strop belt, and large 
coarse boots. Corduroys, if possessed, are worn 
on Sundays. The women wear cheap print 
dresses and sunbonnets. The children are but 
half clothed and poorly fed. Sometimes they 
are seven or eight years of age before they ever 
have shoes ; and yet, in bare feet, over cold 
rough ground, they will make their way to the 
schools, being kept away only by the deep snows. 

Educational facilities have been most meager. 
In a school population of three hundred thousand 
about three thousand have had the simplest ad- 
vantages. State schools that have been estab- 
lished have been poorly equipped and have been 
open but a few months in the year. 

Religious opportunities have been on a par 
with educational ones. Their ministers have 
been unlearned, ignorant, and ofttimes immoral. 
" Eantin' an' rarin' " instead of preaching have 
been their main characteristics. 

Such conditions could not but produce illiteracy 
and immorality and they are widespread. Ig- 
norance is almost universal and immorality but 
little less limited. Some forms of sin they hold 
in contempt, such as highway robbery, the mur- 
der of a traveler, or falsity to an oath. But to 



THE MOUNTAINEEES 173 

rob the Government of revenue is considered 
shrewd and legitimate and the killing of a 
revenue officer a laudible act of courage. The 
mountaineer also palliates revenge, and murder 
is frequently committed in revenge and retali- 
ation. Purity is sadly wanting. The marriage 
tie is lightly esteemed. Illegitimate children ex- 
ist in large numbers nor are they considered 
especially disgraceful. 

But with all his debasing qualities the moun- 
taineer has some redeeming traits of character. 
He has a deep reverence for the Bible though 
he does not practice its precepts. He has 
an appreciation of the value of an education and 
no children surpass his in their willingness to en- 
dure any hardships that they may be educated. 
And deep down in his being is the slumbering 
flame of a former sturdy moral character that 
with proper care and nourishment will produce 
most gratifying results in an inconceivably short 
space of time. 

But who are these mountain people of the 
South ? Who were their ancestors, and whence 
and how came they to their mountain homes ? 
All w^ho have asked this question and have in- 
vestigated the subject have arrived at a com- 
mon conclusion, namely, that these mountaineers 
are the descendants of a Scotch-Irish Presby- 
terian ancestry. This is the position of President 



1^4 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

Koosevelt in " The Winning of the "West." It is 
the deliberate verdict of the Scotch-Irish Society 
of America after thorough investigation. It is 
the universal conclusion of those who visit this 
people and make a study of their traits and char- 
acters. What Thomas Guthrie said of the peo- 
ple of the north of Ireland may be said of this 
people : " They have Scotch faces, Scotch names, 
Scotch affections, and more than Scotch kind- 
ness." They still retain though in faded form 
many of the ancient customs and superstitions of 
their ancestors and there still abides deep down 
in their natures the Scotch Presbyterian love of 
learning, faith in God, reverence for his word, 
strong moral fiber, and aspirations for nobler and 
better things. 

A brief glance at the history, character, and 
achievements, of the early settlers of this region 
will emphasize this fact and deepen our interest 
in the degraded descendants of a worthy and 
noble ancestry. 

In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the efforts of 
Spain to subjugate England led to rebellions in 
Catholic Ireland. The result in the reign of 
James I was the confiscation of the land of Irish 
noblemen, particularly in the north of Ireland, 
and in the western counties. 

This land was populated by the English and 
Scotch, but especially by the latter, which re- 



THE MOUNTAINEERS 175 

suited in their being called Scotch-Irish. They 
were of course Presbyterians. In the reign of 
Queen Anne these Presbyterian Scotch-Irish 
were persecuted. In 1704 the test oath was im- 
posed. Every one in public life had to subscribe 
to English prelacy. As a result the previously 
limited emigrations to America were greatly in- 
creased. The historian Froude says, " In the 
two years, which followed the Antrim elections, 
thirty thousand left Ulster for a land, where 
there was no legal robbery, and where those who 
sowed the seed could reap the harvest." The 
Government became alarmed and passed the 
Toleration Act, which checked emigration for a 
time. But in 1728 it began anew, and from 1729 
to 1750 " about twelve thousand came annually 
from Ulster to America." These emigrants were 
Presbyterians. They were strict in doctrine, in 
discipline, in morals, and claimed the right to 
elect their own ministers. 

Two principal sections were settled by these 
emigrants from Ireland — eastern and western 
Pennsylvania, and the mountain regions of Vir- 
ginia and the Garolinas. In 1738 arrangements 
were made with the governor of Virginia, by 
which they could settle the valleys of the Blue 
Kidge Mountains, and enjoy the privileges 
granted under the Toleration Act. This greatly 
increased the Virginia contingent. 



1Y6 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

From Yirginia, these early settlers pushed on 
into Tennessee and Kentucky. The western 
Pennsylvania element extended itself down the 
Ohio River into western Yirginia and Kentucky 
and the two streams were united again in the 
mountain regions of these states. 

The characteristics and achievements of these 
ancestors of the people in whom we are interested 
are also worthy our notice. 

Their hardiness and indomitable courage are 
proven by the fact that they pushed past the 
.settlements, undaunted by the vast forests, the 
absence of civilization and the presence of deadly 
Indian foes. " They were the first and last set 
of emigrants," says President Roosevelt, " to do 
this. All others merely followed in the wake of 
their predecessors. But indeed they were fitted 
from the very start to be Americans ; they were 
kinsfolk of the Covenanters; they deemed it a 
religious duty to interpret their own Bible, and 
held for a divine right the election of their clergy. 
For generations their whole ecclesiastic and 
scholastic systems had been fundamentally demo- 
cratic. In the hard life of the frontier they lost 
much of their religion and they had but scant 
opportunities to give their children the schooling 
in which they believed, but what few school- 
houses and meetinghouses there were on the 
frontiers were theirs. The creed of the back- 



THE MOUNTAINEERS 177 

woodsmen, who had a creed at all, was Presby- 
terian ; for the Episcopacy of the tide water 
lands obtained no fast hold in the mountains to 
the ^orth, and the Baptists had just begun to 
appear in the West when, the Kevolution broke 
out." 

Life in these southern mountains was very 
crude and simple. In the broad, open valleys 
the evidences of prosperity and plenty were soon 
manifested; but back in the mountains, where 
are to-day the people with whom we have to do, 
such was not the case. No towns or cities, with 
their accompanying comforts and advantages, 
were built. The heads of a few families selected 
an immense tract of land, and settled upon it. 
As the sons grew up and married, farms were 
parceled out to them ; so that it is not an un- 
common thing to-day for the inhabitants of an 
entire neighborhood to bear the same name. 
Marriage took place at an early age, and fami- 
lies were usually very large. " There was every- 
where great equality of conditions. Land was 
plenty, and all else was scarce ; so courage and 
thrift and industry were sure of their reward." 

Hunting as well as farming was a necessary 
occupation of the mountain men. Ability to use 
the rifle was not only necessary as a means of 
livelihood, but also as a protection against the 
Indians ; and in these regions were developed 



178 PKESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

some of the greatest Indian fighters in our history. 
Their weapon was "the long flint-lock rifle, 
clumsy and ill-balanced, but exceedingly accu- 
rate." 

Being Presbyterians, these mountaineers be- 
lieved in education, and desired it for their chil- 
dren. But the difficulties in the way were very 
great and schools were therefore very rare 
Deserted huts were used for schoolhouses and 
the schoolmaster " boarded round." The three 
E's — reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic — in their 
simplest forms, composed the sum total of the 
educational curriculum. 

Eeligion, it is hardly necessary to say, was a 
constituent element of this hardy race of moun- 
taineers. " They were deeply religious in their 
tendencies, and although ministers and meeting- 
houses were rare, yet the backwoods cabins often 
contained Bibles and the mothers used to instill 
into the minds of their children reverence for 
the Sabbath day, while many of the hunters re- 
fused to hunt on that day. Those of them who 
knew the right, honestly tried to live up to it, in 
spite of the manifold temptations to backsliding, 
afforded by their lives of hard and fierce con- 
tention." 

Life in the mountains was rough and simple, 
yet it was not ineffective in producing stern and 
strenuous characters, who have had a prodigious 



THE MOUNTAINEERS 179 

influence upon our national history. At the 
head of this list stand Presidents Andrew Jack- 
son and Abraham Lincoln, both sons of the 
mountain regions. 

In the two great crises of our national history 
these strong and stalwart mountaineers have 
played no mean part. They were conspicuous 
for their influence and loyalty in the American 
Kevolution. They came to America as a result 
of English tyranny and injustice, and when the 
opportunity came to drive England from their 
adopted home, they were not slow to take ad- 
vantage of it. The Mecklenburg Declaration 
of Independence, which preceded that of the 
National Declaration by more than a year was 
the work of Scotch- Irish Presbyterians, and from 
that day till the close of the Kevolutionary "War, 
they loyally offered and often gave life and all 
to the patriots' cause. 

In the Civil War their descendants took a con- 
spicuous part. These sons of a sturdy ancestry 
were providentially located for that great strug- 
gle. They lived in the border states. Their 
numbers were great ; they were strong in body, 
efficient in the use of firearms, and loyal to the 
backbone. They kept Kentucky out of the Con- 
federacy and carved from the Old Dominion the 
new and loyal State of West Virginia. Their in- 
fluence in determining the final result of the war 



180 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

cannot be estimated. The indebtedness of our 
nation therefore to this hardy stock of Presby- 
terians is easily recognized to be very great. 
"Full credit," says the President, "has been 
awarded the Roundhead and the Cavalier for 
their leadership in our history ; nor have we 
been altogether blind to the deeds of the Hol- 
lander and Huguenot — but it is doubtful if we 
have fully realized the importance of the part 
plaj^ed by that stern and virile people whose 
preachers taught the creed of Knox and Calvin." 

But if the ancestry of the mountaineers be 
these Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, how can we ac- 
count for the low and degraded condition of 
their descendants to-day? At first glance it 
seems impossible that these godless, shiftless, 
illiterate people could have had such a noble an- 
cestry ; and yet it is true. And in this sad de- 
generacy we see a striking illustration of the 
consequences of the absence of the enlightening 
influences of religion. 

The causes of this degeneracy are as apparent 
as the fact. The two principal factors in the 
production of these sad results were the Eevolu- 
tionary War and slavery. The first movement 
to the undesirable parts of the mountains was 
the result of the Revolutionary War. These 
Scotch-Irish Presbyterian patriots suffered many 
losses from the British army and from the Tories. 



THE MOUNTAINEERS 181 

They were reduced to sore straits ; to secure even 
a livelihood was a difficult task. The younger 
and more vigorous men pushed on to the newer 
and better districts, but the older people encum- 
bered with the children were driven farther back 
into the mountains and compelled to live by rude 
farming and by hunting. Slavery completed 
what the losses of the war began. The moun- 
taineers were conscientiously opposed to holding 
slaves and were deprived of all industrial means 
of subsistence because of the presence of slaves. 
The slave became the planter's blacksmith, car- 
penter, and man-of-all-work, and the working 
white man thereby lost all opportunity to make 
a living in this way. The invention of the cotton 
gin in 1792 increased the value of the slave and 
decreased the opportunity of the white workman. 
He soon lost all he owned and was pushed back, 
with those who had gone before, into the moun- 
tains. Churches, schools, books, and industrial 
opportunities, were practically wanting amid 
these new surroundings. Early marriages and 
large families became the custom. Each suc- 
ceeding generation was more illiterate than the 
preceding ones. Idleness prevailed ; hunting be- 
came a vitiating pastime ; civilizing influences 
were absent ; schools were wanting, and the 
educated minister became impossible. The fin- 
ished products of such conditions are the pov- 



182 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

erty, illiteracy, and immorality, that exist to- 
day, and it was this condition that invited mis- 
sionary effort and makes it such an imperative 
necessity. 

Presbyterian missionary work among the 
mountain people of the South was begun in 
18Y9. 

The first mission school was White Hall Semi- 
nary. It was established near Concord, JS'orth 
Carolina, and Miss Frances E. Ufford was the 
first teacher. 

From that beginning the work has grown until 
it extends over the mountain regions of the four 
States of North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, 
and West Virginia. There are to-day, as a result 
of the Home Board's work, thirty-one churches, 
one thousand three hundred and seventy-eight 
church members, seventy-six Sabbath schools, six 
thousand one hundred and seventy-two Sabbath- 
school scholars, thirty-seven mission schools, one 
hundred and eight mission school-teachers, three 
thousand pupils, twenty-one ministers and sixteen 
Bible readers. 

The principal agencies in advancing missions 
have been churches, mission schools. Sabbath 
schools and Bible readers. 

The churches, with attendant ministers, have 
been established as rapidly as the means would 
allow. The method pursued has been to select 



THE MOUNTAINEERS 183 

aud occupy a strategic center and from this to 
branch, out in all directions and to send out an 
ever widening circle of influence. At Marshall, 
the county seat of Madison County, North Caro- 
lina, there is a fine church and manse, an academy 
and a Teachers' Home. At Burnville, the county 
seat of Yancey County, there is a vigorous church 
organization and McCormick Academy. At Hot 
Springs, the famous health resort, there is the 
handsomest church in western JSTorth Carolina, 
and Borland Institute with its beautiful dormi- 
tory and its large reception hall. The influence of 
these religious and educational centers cannot be 
estimated. They touch and beneflt the country 
for twenty miles round and are an inspiration to 
entire communities. 

The importance of Christian schools in such a 
district, so long deprived of educational facilities 
and so poorly provided for by the State is at once 
apparent. The Presbyterian Church realized this 
phase of the situation and at the beginning of its 
'missionary work in the mountains inaugurated a 
school system that was admirable in conception 
and has been eminently successful in operation. 
Primary or common schools were planted back 
in the mountains, in the wildest regions, and 
devoted teachers secured. lS[ext above these and 
located at strategic points and in relation to 
primary schools, came the academy and board- 



184 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

ing schools, having both an academic and an 
industrial character. These having been estab- 
lished the importance of teachers, born and raised 
on the field, became apparent. The outcome was 
the normal school for the education and training 
of teachers, which stands at the head of our edu- 
cational system. These three grades of schools, 
the primary, industrial, and normal, have been 
developed with remarkable success and pro- 
nounced results. 

The primary or day schools are of course the 
largest in number. There are about thirty of 
these schools, intelligently arranged throughout 
the mountain regions. The necessity of such 
schools lies in the fact that the public school 
system is little developed and very deficient in 
facilities in most of these regions. INTorth Caro- 
lina, for instance, spends less money per pupil, 
than any other State in the Union, except South 
Carolina. The average sum paid, for all pur- 
poses, state, county and local schools, is three 
dollars and forty cents per pupil ; in Georgia it 
is six dollars and fifty cents; in Virginia nine 
dollars ; in Indiana twenty dollars ; in Michigan 
twenty dollars ; in "Wisconsin twenty-one dollars ; 
in Minnesota thirty dollars, and in North Dakota 
thirty-three dollars and fifty cents. Nor do 
many of the mountain districts receive even the 
average amount paid for educational purposes. 



THE MOUNTAINEERS 185 

Id 1891 one community which numbered eighty 
or more children of school age had never had a 
public school. Until 1895 another district with 
forty-seven children of school age had never had 
a school. Then a log hut was built and since 
that time six weeks of school have been annually 
provided. The amount of money granted the 
school was thirty-eight dollars per year ! While 
these are not representative cases, on the other 
hand they are not exceptional. There are many 
such districts throughout the mountains. The es- 
tablishment of our day schools, even where there 
are public schools in session for a short period of 
the year, is beneficial. They supplement the 
work of the public schools and emphasize the im- 
portance of education to the people. 

The method of establishing and of carry- 
ing on the day-school work is very interesting. 
Into one of these destitute and needy mountain 
valleys two or three consecrated, self-denying 
women are sent. It being impossible for them 
to live with the people lest they die of " lone- 
someness or dyspepsia " a plain, neat cottage is 
built and becomes the " Teachers' Home." This 
home is the teachers' refuge, a model in house- 
keeping to the women of the neighborhood, and 
a center of kindly influence. One of the teachers 
is the general superintendent ; she cares for the 
home and supervises the school. She is "the 



186 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

woman who runs things," and is called by hei* 
neighbors " the busiest human on the creek." In 
addition to her home and school duties, she 
visits the homes of the people, talks to and prays 
with the sick and aged, reads the Scriptures, and 
is a benediction to the neighborhood. 

The day school is started as soon as possible 
after the teachers' arrival. At first teaching is a 
difficult task as no preliminary foundation has 
been laid. But time works wonders. The little 
minds develop rapidly. The parents become in- 
terested. They visit the schools on special oc- 
casions such as Christmas and "Washington's 
Birthday. A meeting for mothers is held once a 
week. They sew, listen to Bible readings, and 
do shopping, for the missionaries have ready- 
made garments and good stout material to sell 
at low prices. The women are given knitting, 
spinning, and weaving, to do, and the money thus 
earned helps to supply the children with clothes. 
Mission circles, girls' sewing circles, boys' carv- 
ing classes, are organized, and time given to 
social parties and games of amusement. A 
Sabbath school is immediately organized in con- 
nection with the day school; informal religious 
meetings are held; a minister makes a-n occa- 
sional visit. Presbyterian ministers are much 
preferred although they are so different from the 
exciting exhorters of the " big meetin's." " He 



THE MOUNTAINEERS 187 

don't rant none, and he don't rave none and he 
don't rare none ; he just says it out plain, so that 
the young people can understand." As time 
goes on and the work develops the minister 
comes more frequently, the nucleus of a church 
is gathered together and at last the church 
itself becomes the finished work of the day 
school. 

The industrial and boarding schools are next 
in rank above the day schools. There is neces- 
sarily an intimate relation between the indus- 
trial and the day schools. The day schools are 
the nurseries of the boarding schools. From 
them the best prepared and worthiest scholars 
are advanced to the boarding school, thus offer- 
ing an inspiring motive for faithful study, as the 
scholarship in the advanced school is greatly 
prized. From the boarding school, assistant 
teachers are sent back to the day schools and 
thus they become mutually beneficial. In the 
industrial schools the girls are taught the domes- 
tic arts, means of making a livelihood, and the 
boys the trades and industries that will fit them 
for the actual duties of life. 

The principal schools of this character among 
the mountaineers are, "The Home Industrial 
School," for girls, at Asheville, North Carolina ; 
" The Asheville Farm School," for boys ; " Dor- 
land Institute," for girls, and " The Boys' Home," 



188 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

both at Hot Springs, IN'orth Carolina, and " Laura 
Sunderland School," near Concord, North Caro- 
lina. 

The Home Industrial School at Asheville was 
organized as a result of a visit of Eev. L. M. 
Pease and his wife to Asheville, for their health 
which had been impaired by missionary labors 
at The Five Points in New York. While at 
Asheville they became interested in the moun- 
tain girls and expressed to the Kev. Thomas 
Lawrence, D. D., a willingness to deed their 
property — a beautiful farm of thirty-three acres 
and a large furnished boarding house near Ashe- 
ville, to an organization that would support a 
school for girls. When the Presbyterian Board 
was looking for a site for a school Dro Lawrence 
informed them of Mr. Pease's desire. He was 
communicated with, the transfer was made, and 
a school arranged for. Miss Florence Stephenson 
of Butler, Pennsylvania, was appointed principal, 
which position she has filled with marked effi- 
ciency and which she still holds. Miss Frances 
E. XJfford of Bloomfield, New Jersey, and Miss 
Isabel Ingersoll of St. Paul, Minnesota, — the lat- 
ter giving her services without payment — were 
appointed assistants. The school was opened 
October 4, 1877. In a few weeks it had seventy 
boarding scholars and forty day scholars — its ut- 
most capacity. The present capacity is over one 



THE MOUNTAINEERS 189 

hundred. It is always filled and hundreds of ap- 
plications are necessarily refused. The curriculum, 
of the school embraces a course of six years be- 
ginning with the first primary grade. The higher 
branches are not taught but many are sufficiently 
educated to become teachers. The Scriptures 
are read and studied daily. Housework, cook- 
ing, plain sewing, dressmaking, and in some cases 
fancy work and embroidery, are taught. One 
quarter of the expense is met by the pupils, the 
balance is provided by means of scholarships 
which are seventy-five dollars per annum, and 
the teachers' salaries supplied by missionary 
societies and individuals. The money is paid 
through the treasurer to the Women's Execu- 
tive Committee, 156 Fifth Avenue, 'New York. 
There are now eight teachers, one hundred and 
forty boarding and three day scholars, in the 
Home Industrial School. 

The Asheville Farm School for Boys was an 
necessary outcome of the Home Industrial School 
for Girls. The education of the girls would 
have been largely impaired, had their brothers 
and future husbands been kept in ignorance. 
This school is located seven miles from Asheville 
on a farm containing four hundred acres, upon 
which have been erected the required buildings. 
The course of study includes the common Eng- 
lish branches and special instruction is given in 



190 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

agriculture and the ordinary trades. A portion 
of each day is spent in the schoolroom and the 
remainder on the farm or in the shop. Students 
are trained in the care of the dairy and of stocks, 
farming, drawing, roadmaking, and forestry, in 
the cultivation of flowers, fruits, and garden 
vegetables, in ordinary carpentry, painting, re- 
pairing of harness, wagons, and farm implements, 
and other industries. Eeligious and Bible studies 
are maintained daily. Farm products and vege- 
tables are raised for the girls' school and also 
sold in the markets of Asheville. The school is 
supported by the boys, by scholarships of seventy- 
five dollars each, by societies, by individual gifts, 
and the Woman's Board of l^ew York. The 
latest reports show the presence of thirteen 
teachers, one hundred and forty-three boarding 
pupils, and five day pupils, a total of one hun- 
dred and forty-eight pupils. 

Borland Institute is located at the noted 
health resort, Hot Springs. The Springs were 
visited in 1877 by the Kev. Dr. and Mrs. Dor- 
land. They had labored for twenty years among 
the Freedmen and had organized churches and 
schools and had founded Scotia Seminary. To 
recover their health was the object of their visit 
to Hot Springs, but the low and degraded condi- 
tion of the mountaineers appealed to them. 
Yisitors urged them to start a school for girls. 



THE MOUNTAINEERS 191 

They did so in 1879. Sixty pupils were received 
and an industrial department was soon added 
and the girls were taught dressmaking. In 1882 
eighty pupils were enrolled and a year later one 
hundred. The work was taken under the care 
of the Home Board. Money was raised for the 
purchase of property near the center of the 
village. A boarding hall and chapel school 
building have been erected. The expense of a 
boarding pupil for a term of eight months is but 
fifty dollars. The girls do the work of the home 
and thus both assist in the school's support and 
fit themselves for future usefulness. This insti- 
tution is now under the efficient management of 
Miss Julia E. Phillips. 

The Laura Sunderland school is located near 
Concord, North Carolina. In June, 1879, the 
Woman's Board organized a day school in a small 
log house three miles from Concord. The 
teacher was Miss Frances E. Ufford. Twenty- 
six pupils were soon gathered in, and the number 
rapidly increased. To meet the increased de- 
mands a building was erected near Concord, and 
forty boarding pupils were taken at what they 
could pay. The log hut was continued as a day 
school. The new seminary was called White 
Hall. It was a center of great influence until fire 
destroyed the building. As the result of an appeal 
from Miss Ufford, the Home Missionary Society 



192 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

of Baltimore gave five thousand dollars for a new 
building. The Sy nodical Society of Pennsylva- 
nia gave an additional five thousand dollars and 
in 1893 the present commodious building was 
erected. It was named the " Laura Sunderland " 
in loving remembrance of one whose life had 
been devoted to the cause which the school rep- 
resents. The building is located about two miles 
from Concord. It is commodious and well ar- 
ranged. The basement contains the kitchen and 
dining rooms. On the first floor there are the 
boarding hall, library, and reception room, as- 
sembly room, schoolrooms, and recitation hall. 
The second and third stories, with halls the 
entire length of the building, are well- ventilated 
sleeping rooms. The building is surrounded by 
thirty acres of land which belong to the institute. 
One half of this land was a gift. The girls are 
taught to keep house and to make their own gar- 
ments. They are sufficiently educated to teach 
among their own people. Bible instruction and 
religious training are placed above everything 
else. The present enrollment is six teachers, 
seventy-two boarding pupils, and one day 
pupil. 

The normal school stands at the head of the 
mountain-school system. Of this class of schools 
we have but one representative among the moun- 
taineers, — " The Asheville ISTormal and Collegiate 



THE MOUNTAINEERS 193 

Institution," located at Asheville. It was or- 
ganized in 1892 by the Kev. Thomas Lawrence, 
D. D.j who is still the superintendent. The 
graduates of the normal school at Asheville are 
granted State certificates and can teach any- 
where in the State without being examined. ITo 
other school, besides the State I^ormal, enjoys 
this privilege. To this school come the graduates 
of the academies who have special qualifications 
for becoming teachers. Thus our schools have 
teachers who have " been born on the soil and 
trained on the field; understanding the people 
and being understood by them." By such an ar- 
rangement greater economy and increased eJffi- 
ciency are acquired. To this end the normal 
and collegiate institute was established, mainly 
for the training of teachers and Christian work- 
ers. The results have more than justified the 
wisdom of the undertaking. 

The normal offers for its students three courses 
of study. The first is the normal or teachers' 
training course ; the second is the commercial or 
business course; and the third is a course in 
domestic science, in which advanced studies in 
the domestic arts are pursued. One half hour a 
day in all grades is spent in systematic study of 
the Bible. The object of these courses is to edu- 
cate the head, heart, and hand. Each student has 
to do in her turn every part of the work of the 



194 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

school home, for it is as much a home as a school. 
The schedule is changed every six weeks. All 
graduates, whether teachers, stenographers, or 
dressmakers, have been taught to care for a 
home. As students, they have taken their turn 
in cooking the food, caring for the chapel, dining 
room, class rooms and their own dormitories. 
They have largely made their own clothes, have 
been taught to laundry them, and to care for the 
sick except in most serious cases. Thus they are 
thoroughly fitted for the duties of life in all its 
various phases. If compelled to make their own 
living they have their trades by which to do so. 
If fortunate enough to have their own homes 
they are prepared to care for them and to make 
home life comfortable and happy. The influence 
of such a school is scarcely imaginable. Our 
normal school is known over the entire State and 
has been a beneficial power over the whole 
northern part of it. Sixteen teachers are en- 
gaged in the normal work. Two hundred and 
thirty-seven boarding pupils and fifty-four day 
pupils, a total of two hundred and ninety-one, are 
enrolled. 

Sunday-school missions have been an important 
factor in the evangelization of the mountaineers. 
In addition to those organized by the teachers of 
the day schools our Board of Publication and 
Sabbath-school Work is engaged in most success- 



THE MOUNTAINEERS 195 

ful Sabbath-school labors in the mountain regions 
of Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia. 
The Sabbath-school superintendent who is at the 
head of this work is Eev. C. Humble, M. D., of 
Parkersburg, West Yirginia. Dr. Humble is a 
thorough master of his field ; wise in planning, 
indefatigable in execution and consecrated in 
all his labors. He has made Sunday-school work 
a great success in the more needy parts of these 
desolate regions. In Tennessee, under the Board 
there are forty-two Sabbath schools, one hundred 
and twenty-seven teachers, and one thousand five 
hundred and thirty -nine scholars. Fourteen 
churches have been organized from Sabbath- 
school work, since its beginning, in 1887. In 
Kentucky there are fifty-one schools, one hun- 
dred and fifty-two teachers, and two thousand 
two hundred and sixteen scholars. Seven 
churches here have been organized from the Sab- 
bath schools. In West Yirginia there are forty- 
three schools, one hundred and sixty-nine teach- 
ers, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five 
scholars. Since 1887, forty-nine churches have 
been developed in this field — eleven Presbyterian, 
three Southern Presbyterians, one United Pres- 
byterian, twenty-one Methodists, six Baptists, 
five United Brethren, and two Adventists. The 
efficiency and achievements of the Sabbath-school 
missions can thus be seen at a glance and should 



196 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

stimulate the zeal of all supporters in this splen- 
did phase of its great work. 

Bible readers, a new feature of missionary 
work, are an outgrowth of mountaineer missions. 
The Bible readers are consecrated women who 
go into localities w^here it is not possible to or- 
ganize schools. They live in the neighborhood, 
visit the people in their homes, and explain and 
apply the Bible to them. It is taking the gospel 
to those who cannot come to it. Dr. Humble, 
the Sabbath-school superintendent, is the origi- 
nator of this new method of work. It is now 
also used by the Woman's Board. The idea is 
a practical one and not infrequently churches 
have been organized as a result of this class of 
work. 

Thus the Presbyterian Church by missionaries, 
schools, Sabbath schools and Bible readers, is 
doing its utmost to carry the gospel to this 
forgotten people of our southern mountains. 
Christianity, patriotism, and especially Presby- 
terianism, call us to this field of labor. These 
people are descendants of loyal Presbyterians. 
Many of their ancestors gave their lives for our 
Church and for our country. They are bone of 
our bone, and flesh of our flesh, and should be the 
special objects of our sympathy, of our interest 
and our labors. More than all, they personally 
prefer and develop best under Presbyterian doc- 



THE MOUNTAINEERS 197 

trines and methods, and the cry from every side 
is for more Presbyterian schools, missionaries, 
and teachers. This fact places a tremendous 
responsibility on our Church which should not be 
shirked. 

In spite of all that has been done the needs of 
the field are great. Proper literature is much 
needed, especially a tract setting forth Presby- 
terian doctrine in untechnical terms. An indus- 
trial school is needed in every one of the moun- 
tains of the regions not yet supplied with one. 
These schools are the best agencies possible for 
revolutionizing the domestic, social and religious 
life of a county. More day schools and teachers 
are greatly needed. Constant cries come for 
more, and the Board must turn a deaf ear for a 
lack of funds. Churches and regular preaching 
services are also in great demand. Tens of thou- 
sands of our own people are calling for our aid. 
Shall we refuse them the gospel and the Church 
so dear to our common ancestry ? 

The possibilities of the mountain work should 
appeal to us with great power. Eesults are 
speedy and substantial. The soil that lies dor- 
mant beneath the outward irregularities is good! 
It needs but to be cultivated to bring forth good 
fruit — some cases thirty, and some sixty, and 
others a hundredfold. Ordinarily it takes gen- 
erations to develop degraded populations but this 



198 PRESBYTEEIAIT HOME MISSIONS 

is not SO here. These mountaineers still have 
dormant within them the principles and native 
abilities of their ancestors. One illustration will 
show the prodigious possibilities in these moun- 
tain people. Some years ago Miss Florence 
Stephenson of the Home Industrial School of 
Asheville, made an address before the Synod of 
Ohio. The moderator in introducing her said: 
" I am glad to introduce to you this woman, who 
represents the school work of the South. I am 
here a minister among you because near my 
father's home in Tennessee a Presbyterian church 
and day school were established." Thus in a few 
years a mountain boy had gone from a mountain 
home missionary school to the moderatorship of 
the great Synod of Ohio. ISTor was he an excep- 
tionally bright boy. Instead, a classmate declares 
that, " when he entered college he was one of the 
greenest mountain boys who ever entered col- 
lege." Moreover, this is no isolated case. It has 
been many times duplicated. All over the South 
to-day are young ladies from our girls' schools 
teaching in mission schools, in public schools, and 
occupying other responsible positions, and doing 
noble work in uplifting their own people by 
leading them to Christ. The skeptic who asks, 
Do missions pay? cannot turn from mountain 
work with any satisfaction if he seeks a nega- 
tive answer. The splendid and speedy results of 



THE MOUNTAINEERS 199 

the past should fill our hearts with gratitude to 
God and should inspire us to redouble our ener- 
gies until all this people are brought again be- 
neath the blue banner of Presbyterianism and 
the cross of Christ. 



YII 
THE MEXICANS 



CHAPTER YII 

THE MEXICANS 

The administration of James K. Polk as Presi- 
dent of the United States, 1845-1849, is spe- 
cially marked by the Mexican War. In 1821, 
Mexico achieved her independence from Spain. 
She then annexed the provinces of Texas and 
Coahuila which lay to the west of Texas, under 
one government. In 1836, Texas rebelled, gained 
her independence, and March 1, 1844, was ad- 
mitted as a State into the American Union. 
Texas claimed that her independence included 
that of Coahuila. This Mexico denied, and when 
Texas was received into the Union, war arose 
over the question of the extent of the boundary 
line of Texas. Mexico was defeated. On the 
second of February a treaty was concluded be- 
tween the two nations. Mexico relinquished the 
territory that now includes the whole of 'New 
Mexico and California to the United States. 
The United States paid into the Mexican treas- 
ury fifteen million dollars, and became responsi- 
ble for Mexican debts to American citizens, not 
to exceed three million five hundred thousand 

203 



204: PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

dollars. Thus the territory of the United States 
was spread out in one broad belt from ocean to 
ocean. 

!N"ew Mexico in this way became a part of the 
United States ; but it is still essentially a foreign 
country. It is the principal home of the Mexi- 
cans in the United States. The people, in race, 
religion, language, and tradition, are more Mex- 
ican than American. The Territory is large, being 
equal in size to E'ew England, New York, and a 
part of New Jersey. Its general elevation is about 
six thousand feet above the sea level. Its moun- 
tains form its chief physical feature. They are 
intersected by beautiful canyons and dotted with 
wonderful parks of surpassing beauty. The cli- 
mate of New Mexico is attracting attention more 
and more as it becomes better known and appre- 
ciated. It is dry, clear, and bright through most 
of the year and is conducive to the restoration 
and preservation of the health. Agriculture is 
limited to the valleys because of the scarcity of 
rainfall. Wheat and fruit of the finest quality 
are raised here. Precious metals are found in 
almost all parts of the Territory. The valleys 
are also capable of supporting large numbers of 
cattle and sheep. The capital of New Mexico is 
Sante Fe, the second oldest city in the United 
States. The chief cities are Albuquerque, Las 
Yegas and Santa Fe. 



THE MEXICANS 205 

The early history of Kew Mexico is interest- 
ing and romantic. Here the Montezumas ruled 
over the most enlightened Indian civilization of 
America. Centuries ago temples and altars were 
upon its mountains and in its valleys. Ruins of 
cities, of palaces, and of temples, are yet to be 
found which tell of the high civilization of the 
early inhabitants. These early inhabitants were 
undoubtedly Indians, though they had attained 
a civilization far superior to that of the average 
tribe of the aborigines. How they reached this 
state of development will ever remain a mystery. 
Mexico was conquered by the Spaniards under 
Cortez over three centuries ago. Expeditions 
were sent north in search of gold and thus JSTew 
Mexico came also under Spanish control, and 
later on the home of a mixed race of Spaniards 
and Indians, called Mexicans. 

'New Mexico is not separated by any natural 
boundary from Mexico nor does it differ essen- 
tially from the mother country. During three 
hundred years of Spanish rule there was no ad- 
vancement in the Territory in science, art, poli- 
tics, industry, education, or religion. When the 
American flag was raised by General Kearney 
at Santa Fe, June, 1846, there was but one school 
in the entire Territory. Only a small portion of 
the population could read. The rudest industrial 
and agricultural implements were used. The 



206 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

rich mines were inoperative. Idleness, ignorance, 
and superstition, were the characteristics of the 
people. iN'or did Americans first appreciate the 
value of the Territory. For twenty-five years 
after American possession it lay dormant and un- 
known. But the tide of emigration has turned 
toward New Mexico. In 1880, the population 
was one hundred and nineteen thousand, five 
hundred and sixty -five; in 1890, one hundred 
and fifty-three thousand, five hundred and ninety- 
three ; and in 1900, one hundred and ninety-three 
thousand, seven hundred and seventy-seven. 
This increase of forty thousand in the last decade 
is mainly by importation. The Christianization 
of the territory is thus made additionally im- 
portant. 

The population of Kew Mexico consists of four 
distinct and separate classes. The PueUo In- 
dians are the remnant of the native race, of whose 
origin and antecedents we know nothing. They 
are scattered in seventeen different towns. The 
inhabitants of the towns are different from each 
other and while many speak Spanish, yet among 
themselves they have ten or twelve different 
languages. They are partially civilized and sup- 
port themselves. Their religion is a mixture of 
Catholicism and paganism. The Snake Dance is 
a religious ceremony peculiar to some of the 
tribes. Once a year they hunt the snakes in the 



THE MEXICANS 207 

mountains. "When they have caught large num- 
bers they perform the dance and worship them 
in honor of their ancestors. The snakes are sup- 
posed to possess the souls of their ancestors, and 
this explains the revolting ceremony. The roving 
Indians have come to New Mexico from other 
sections. They number about 25,000 and are 
savage and blood thirsty. The native Mexican 
population is a mixed race, having in its veins 
the blood of both the Montezumas and the Span- 
iards. The American population is as yet very 
small, but is rapidly increasing. They are gov- 
ernment and railroad employees, miners and 
ranchers, with professional men and others who 
have been attracted to the Territory for various 
reasons, since the opening of the railroads. 

The Mexicans of the United States, outside of 
Kew Mexico, live principally in Arizona, Colo- 
rado, California, and Texas. In all there are 
supposed to be about three hundred thousand of 
this exceptional class in our country. Of these, 
about one hundred thousand have come to us 
from Mexico. The remainder have had their 
origin in New Mexico and live there to-day, or 
in the surrounding states and territories. 

The conditions that characterize the masses of 
the Mexicans in the United States are by no 
means inviting. The wealthier ones live in the 
towns, possess their own homes, and enjoy the 



208 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

advantages of civilization. But this class is 
small and is growing smaller. The masses of 
the people, who live on the outskirts of the 
towns, in the country and on the ranches are in 
a deplorable condition. Their houses are usually 
mud huts, having dirt floors and only the scan- 
tiest furniture. Their daily fare is very simple. 
Sometimes it is nothing more than bread and 
coffee served to all from a common dish. The 
men and boys eat first, and what is left goes to 
the women and girls. Early marriages and large 
families are the rule. The domestic and indus- 
trial implements are few and simple. Farming 
is their principal occupation ; each family owns 
a small tract of land, but it provides a scanty 
living because of the large number in the family. 
Idleness is widespread. Many are idle because 
they have nothing to do. The women have few 
household duties — nothing to sew, and little to 
cook. The men are shiftless and lazy. The re- 
sult of this idleness and general mismanagement 
is extreme poverty. To these causes of poverty 
must also be added their failure to appreciate 
the value of money and to use it properly. They 
will buy a green handkerchief when they should 
buy a dress or a shirt ; or spend their money for 
tobacco, cigarettes, or shows, when it should be 
spent for the necessities of the home. 

In natural disposition the Mexicans are worthy 



THE MEXICANS 209 

of admiration and imitation. In their home life 
they are very kind to one another. Parents are 
lenient with their children, and cruelty is seldom 
known. Members of a home are very fond of 
each other. Their kindness of disposition is also 
manifested in their hospitality to strangers. Up 
to their ability they cordially entertain all 
comers. 

The vices of the Mexicans are glaring and re- 
volting. The crowding of large families into 
one living and sleeping room is necessarily pro- 
ductive of much evil. The people have a crav- 
ing for stimulants. Men, women, and children, 
smoke. Intemperance from wine-drinking is 
widely prevalent. The abundance of grapes 
makes wine plentiful and accessible. Gambling 
is also a prevalent vice. The men and boys 
spend much time in gambling. In many places 
cock-fighting is a common pastime. Saloons, 
gambling hells, and other dens of iniquity, exist 
and are freely patronized. 

Educational facilities are very poor. In 1846, 
there was but one school in 'New Mexico. Up 
to 1872, there was no effort to establish pub- 
lic schools. To-day there are several hundred 
schools of much inferiority. The towns and cities 
have fairly good educational advantages, but the 
general condition, educationally, is very deplora- 
ble. The State Superintendent of Education a 



210 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

few years ago could scarcely read and "write! 
In many districts the schools are kept open only 
two or three months in the year and never more 
than five. The schoolhouses are rude, ill-lighted, 
and poorly furnished. The children often sit on 
grocery boxes or round the wall. The Catholic 
Church has a number of schools, chiefly in the 
towns and cities, but their aims and methods are 
very inferior. 

The religion of the Mexicans is a mixture of 
paganism and Catholicism. Until the coming of 
the Spaniards they were pagans. Since their 
coming they have been compelled to become 
Catholics ; but in their religious ideas, rites, and 
duties, the two are sadly mixed. The people are 
ignorant, superstitious, and fanatical. A particu- 
lar class of fanatics is called Penitentes. They 
number thousands and are widely scattered. 
They are probably the successors of the old 
Spanish Flagellants, who in early days came to 
this country with their ascetic and superstitious 
religious ceremonies. In connection with the 
services of the Holy Week, the Penitentes carry 
a huge cross from the meeting place to a distant 
hill, and by rude and unearthly ceremonies recall 
the scenes of Christ's crucifixion. It used to be 
charged that they crucified one of their number. 
They are stripped to the waist and lash them- 
selves with whips until their backs are sore and 



THE MEXICANS 211 

lacerated. The better classes of the people are 
turning away from such ignorant superstitions, 
and unless they get the true light from the 
Cross, they will inevitably turn to the darkness 
of infidelity. 

Christianity was of course introduced into 
!N"ew Mexico by Catholics. For over three cen- 
turies they had the field all to themselves, " and 
yet when Protestant missionaries entered, it was 
to find the people living in darkness, degradation, 
and sin." The priests, all French, ruled the peo- 
ple with a rod of iron. The darkness of heath- 
enism still exists, and the superstitions of the 
Middle Ages are still present. The cross, the 
image of Christ, the Yirgin Mary, and the saints, 
are idolatrously worshiped. Until recent times 
Catholic schools were unknown, and no hos- 
pitals had been established, where the needy 
and infirm might be cared for. Catholicism has 
been a blighting curse to these thousands of peo- 
ple, and it will take years to destroy its pernicious 
influences. 

Protestant mission work among the Mexicans 
began at Santa Fe in 1849. The pioneer mis- 
sionary was a Baptist — Eev. "W. H. Kead. The 
mission established by Mr. Read experienced 
many vicissitudes and was finally abandoned by 
the Baptists and left to the Presbyterians. 

The first Presbyterian missionary to ISTew 



212 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

Mexico was the Eev. W. G. Kephart. He was 
sent out by the American Missionary Society in 
1850. To reach Santa Fe, Mr. Kephart had to 
ride a thousand miles in an ox cart, the time con- 
sumed being three months. He was succeeded 
by Eev. D. F. MacFarland who in 1866 estab- 
lished a Presbyterian church and a mission 
school at Santa Fe. The school is now the 
" Santa Fe Boarding School," which has been 
such a blessing to Mexican girls. The first con- 
vert in the Taos Yalley was J. D. Mondragon, 
the Presbyterian evangelist of many years 
standing. In 1856 he was the chief Brother or 
Captain of the Penitentes in Taos Valley and a 
member of the Legislature of New Mexico. He 
wandered into the Baptist mission at Santa Fe 
and heard a sermon. Before leaving the capital 
for home he obtained a Bible. This he read, 
with no other to guide him, for seventeen years, 
having learned unaided to give up the dreadful 
rites of the Penitentes. Then the Presbyterian 
missionary, Eev. James M. Eoberts, settled at 
Taos. Mr. Mondragon accepted Christ and be- 
came a missionary to his own people. 

Eev. Jose Y. Perea was the first Mexican or- 
dained to the Presbyterian ministry. His father 
was wealthy and aristocratic. At an eastern 
college the son imbibed Protestant views. Dur- 
ing a vacation period he broke the images in his 



THE MEXICANS 213 

father's house and was soundly whipped for it. 
After graduation, because of his Protestantism, 
he was an exile and wandered for sixteen years. 
Then he was allowed to return to New Mexico. 
At first he was a shepherd and spent much time 
in studying the Bible. Thus our first missionary 
found him. He became a licentiate evangelist 
and afterwards a regularly ordained Presby- 
terian minister, the first among the Mexicans of 
]S"ew Mexico. 

" Father " Gomez is another interesting early 
convert. His ancestors came from Spain over 
three centuries ago, and he was the chief or 
" Father " of a large class, all of whom were bound 
by Catholic superstitions. By an unknown provi- 
dence he saw a Spanish Bible and could not rest 
until he possessed one. To get it he went by ox 
cart to Santa Fe, one hundred and fifty miles 
away and sold an ox for twenty-five dollars that 
he might purchase it. He compared its teachings 
with the Catholic practices and gave up Catholi- 
cism. The existence of the Protestant Church 
was unknown to him ; but when our missionaries 
visited the region in which he lived he received 
them gladly. A church and school were soon 
organized. A grandson of Father Gomez became 
the teacher of the school At the meeting of the 
General Assembly in 1889, the grandson dis- 
played the worn Bible of his grandfather and 



214 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

thanked God for it, exclaiming in conclusion: 
"I bless and praise God for the precious gift, 
and I would not part with it for all the world 
besides." 

The beginning of mission work in this field 
was gradually followed by additional laborers in 
different fields. In 1869 Kev. J. A. Annin began 
work at Las Yegas, and opened a school in 1870. 
In the same year Eev. Sheldon Jackson, D. D., 
went through the Rocky Mountain territories. 
In 18Y2 Rev. James M. Roberts settled at Taos 
and labored among the Pueblos and their Mexi- 
can neighbors. Three prosperous schools have 
grown out of the Taos work. In 1875 a school 
was started at El Rito for Mexicans, and in 1878 
Rev. R. W. Hall and wife began their successful 
labors at Ocate. 

In 1880 there were twelve Mexican and three 
Pueblo schools in New Mexico. In 1883 the 
Spanish school at Los Angeles was opened. It 
has been a great blessing to the Mexican girls of 
California. 

Between 1878 and 1895 nine missions among 
the Mexicans in Colorado were opened. 

In 1895 there were in the Mexican field 
twenty-six schools, fifty-three teachers, and one 
thousand seven hundred and seventy-four scholars. 
In the Synod of New Mexico there were thirty- 
six churches, thirty-two missionaries and helpers. 



THE MEXICANS 215 

and eight hundred and seventy -seven church 
members. At the present time (1902) we have 
three presbyteries in the Synod of l^ew Mexico, 
with sixty-two organized congregations, of which 
twenty-seven are American, twenty -nine Mexican, 
and six Indian, with a total membership of over 
three thousand five hundred. We have thirty- 
eight ordained ministers, twenty-two evangelists 
and helpers, sixty commissioned teachers, and 
one thousand five hundred pupils in our schools. 
The congregations have raised during the past 
year $915 for home missions, $800 for foreign 
missions, $24,307 for congregational purposes, 
and $2,893 for other church purposes, making a 
total of $28,915. During the past four years 
nineteen congregations have been organized, 
fourteen churches have been built, and these are 
to-day all supplied with missionaries. In addi- 
tion to these a number of missionaries are labor- 
ing at the present time in fields where as yet 
no organization has been completed. 

Mexican school work is necessarily a promi- 
nent feature in their evangelization. Priestly 
antagonism to our schools was at first very pro- 
nounced. They ofttimes tried to interfere with 
the progress of our school work, but without 
success. The schools are influencing the Peni- 
tentes, the home life of the people, and the lives 
of the children and young people. The non- 



216 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

Catholic population most appreciates our schools. 
The Penitentes are often anxious to have their 
children educated, but the great masses of the 
people are under the dominating influence of the 
Catholic Church and it will require both patience 
and time to win them away from this allegiance 
and to make it possible for them to appreciate 
and to participate in the advantages of Protes- 
tant Christianity. But from our schools will 
soon come a generation that will throw off this 
yoke of bondage, and the harvest time of souls 
will be here. 

Our schools for Mexican children are located 
in New Mexico, Colorado, and California. With 
few exceptions, such as the " Santa Fe Boarding 
School " and the " Albuquerque Training School " 
they are day schools in small Mexican towns 
where the American teacher is usually the only 
English-speaking person in the place. The need 
for schools and teachers is very poorly supplied. 
Many are just emerging from Romanism. " They 
are in dense ignorance of the Bible. Their great 
need and their constant cry is for more schools, 
more teachers, more Christian instruction." 

The Santa Fe Boaeding School was or- 
ganized as a day school in November, 1867. It 
was the result of the interest of a military 
officer and his wife located at the capital city. 
The work was under the supervision of Rev. 



THE MEXICANS 217 

D. F. MacFarland, and Miss Gaston became the 
first teacher. The priests opposed the school 
and often retarded its growth but the losses were 
soon regained. June 1, 1881, Miss M. L. Allison 
began her work in the school, it still being a 
day school. The building in which the sessions 
were held was old and dilapidated. Miss Allison 
heroically persevered until repairs and improve- 
ments were made. In September, 1882, seventy- 
five scholars were enrolled, one half being Mexi- 
cans, the others, Italians, Germans, Americans, 
and negroes. Miss Allison soon became im- 
pressed v^ith the necessity of a separate boarding 
school for the girls where they could be taught 
useful domestic industries. Ten girls were re- 
ceived as boarders. In 1885 the school had three 
teachers, twenty boarding and forty-nine day 
pupils. In 1886 the persecutions of the priests 
decreased the enrollment ; but the results were 
not serious. In October, 1889, a new building 
was finished. The enrollment now reached 
seventy-four boarding and fifty day pupils. The 
school at present has seven teachers and ninety 
boarding pupils. Its work has been eminently 
successful. 

The Albuquerque School is located in 
Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the building once 
occupied as an Indian training school. The In- 
dian enterprise was abandoned after a govern- 



218 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

ment school was established for them at the same 
place. In 1895, it was reopened as a school for 
Mexican boys. Later on the boarding depart- 
ment of the Las Vegas school was moved to 
Albuquerque, because of its superior facilities. 
Miss A. D. Mcll^air, the able superintendent at 
Las Yegas, and her assistants deserve great credit 
for making this transfer possible. It has proved a 
wise movement, and here it is possible for Mexican 
boys to receive spiritual and industrial help to 
prepare them for the duties of this life and the 
life to come. The school to-day has six teachers 
and ninety boarding scholars. Mr. J. C. Eoss, 
the efficient missionary at Good Will Mission, be- 
came associated with Miss McNair in the Albu- 
querque work. "If you could see a dirty, pro- 
crastinating, untrained Mexican boy transformed 
by this life into the tidy, dish-washing, bed-mak- 
ing, care-taking, studious, Bible-loving, hymn- 
singing, wide-awake schoolboy, you would know 
what it is that justifies this string of adjectives, 
and the money spent by the Presbyterian women 
on their Albuquerque school; and you would 
want to help." 

In the training school for missionaries, evangel- 
ists, and helpers, which has just been started in 
connection with this Menaul school at Albuquer- 
que six bright young Mexicans and two Indians 
are being trained for the gospel ministry. The 



THE MEXICANS 219 

accommodation at this school is very limited and 
over eighty boys are packed into a building 
where there is not room for more than fifty. 
The training department has therefore to be con- 
ducted in a farmhouse at some distance from the 
school building. Funds for the support of the 
work are greatly needed. 

The success of our Mexican school work is un- 
questioned. It is the important work. Churches 
would be impossible without the schools as the 
opening wedge. Travelers testify that, on enter- 
ing a Mexican home, one can tell at a glance if 
any of its inmates have attended the industrial 
school at Santa F6. What more convincing testi- 
mony is needed to the importance and efficiency 
of our schools in this field of our labor ? A work 
that transforms individuals, homes, and communi- 
ties, is an important and necessary work. 

Missions among the Mexicans of our country 
should appeal to us for sympathy and for support. 
These people are the descendants of the best 
civilization of ancient America and of the earliest 
civilization of modern America. There is a ro- 
mantic and picturesque element about their his- 
tory that should appeal to our imaginations and 
win our affections. For three and a half cen- 
turies they have been fed upon the very husks of 
the Christian religion. Their souls to-day are 
hungry and crying out for the true bread ; and 



220 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

as Christ said to the disciples, so he says to us, 
" Give ye them to eat." He gave to the dis- 
ciples ; they gave to the multitudes. He has also 
given to us, and following their example, let us 
give the Bread of life to the soul starving Mexi- 
cans of our land. 



VIII 
THE FOEEIGISTEKS 



CHAPTEK YIII 

THE FOEEIGNEES 

The population of the United States accord- 
ing to the census of 1900, not including our in- 
sular possessions, was 76,303,387. Of this, 10,- 
460,085 are foreign-born, and 15,687,322 are the 
children of foreign-born parents. Thus every 
third person in the United States is either for- 
eign born or the child of foreign-born parents. 

The foreign-born population distributed by the 
principal countries is as follows : — 

Germany, 2,666,990; Ireland, 1,618,567; Can- 
ada, English, 785,958; French, 395,297; total, 
1,181,255; England, 842,078; Sweden, 573,040; 
Italy, 484,207; Eussia, 424,096; Poland (Kus- 
sian, German, etc.), 383,510 ; Scotland, 336,985 ; 
Austria, 276,249; Bohemia, 156,991; Denmark, 
154,284; Hungary, 145,802; Switzerland, 115,- 
851 ; Holland, 105,049 ; France, 104,341 ; Mexico, 
103,410; Wales, 93,682. There are 119,050 
Chinese in the United States, and 85,986 Japanese. 

JS'or is the tide of immigration receding. It is 
still steadily on the increase. For the jesiv 
ending June 30, 1897, it was 230,832; 1898, 

223 



224 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

229,299; 1899, 311,715; 1900, 448,572; 1901, 
487,918. 

The increase of 1899 over 1898 was 82,416 ; 
that of 1900 over 1899, 136,857; and that of 
1901 over 1900, 39,346. An average, therefore, 
of almost fourteen hundred foreigners a day are 
coming to our shores. Our land is vast in the 
extent of its territory and almost boundless in 
its possibilities and opportunities, and yet it is 
evident to all that the assimilation of such an 
army of people of different races, languages, 
religions, customs, and political prejudices, can- 
not but be a most serious problem. One-fourth 
of the incoming Italians and Hungarians, and 
one-seventh of the Kussians, are illiterate. And 
their moral, social and civil degradation is on an 
equality with their intellectual condition. 

Is it any wonder, therefore, that anarchy has 
flourished in our midst until it has stricken down, 
in the light of day and surrounded by applauding 
thousands, one of the gentlest and most beloved 
of all our Presidents ? Is it any wonder that our 
papers daily record the most heinous and shock- 
ing crimes ? Is it any wonder that our jails and 
prisons are crowded? These illiterate, anar- 
chical, atheistical populations could not come in 
such numbers to our land without producing 
such results. Our anarchists are foreigners. 
Seventy per cent of the crimes of our country 



THE rOEEIGNERS 225 

are committed by this less than forty per cent 
of our foreign population. As a result of this 
incoming flood of illiterates and degenerates, 
dumped upon our shores by continental Europe, 
crime is increasing in our country eight times as 
fast as the population, — and the end is not yet. 

One of the gravest features of this continued 
stream of immigration lies in the fact that the 
races which produce the most undesirable classes 
are sending heavily increased numbers to our 
shores, — and more than this, it is too often the 
case that the most objectionable classes are the 
ones that come. Contrasted with this fact is the 
one that the increase in immigrations from the 
most desirable races is deplorably small. In 
years gone by, the larger number of our immi- 
grants were from the best countries and the best 
classes of Europe. But this has very noticeably 
changed. For the calendar year of 1900, for in- 
stance, the number of immigrants to our shores 
reached the total of 472,126. Of these, 108,701 
came from Austria-Hungary ; 111,088 from Italy, 
and principally southern Italy ; 92,486 from 
Eussia. Erom Great Britain in the same year 
there were but 49,632 immigrants ; from the 
German Empire but 20,768 ; from Greece but 
4,664 ; and from France but 2,971. These facts 
present grave and serious problems. The mass 
of our incoming population to-day is not only 



226 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

foreign in speech and in customs but is most 
undesirable in its beliefs, its character, and in its 
manner of living. 

Another serious phase of the foreign popula- 
tion problem is its tendency to congregate ac- 
cording to nationalities in certain sections of our 
country. The chief places of destination are our 
large cities, our great eastern industrial centers, 
and the agricultural districts of the West and 
Northwest. 

The city is the principal haven of the immi- 
grant. New York is one of the most cosmopoli- 
tan cities in the world. Foreigners and foreign 
customs from all parts of the world are to be 
seen in our great metropolis. The school census 
of Chicago for 1899 showed a total population 
of 1,851,588. In this aggregate twenty-five dif- 
ferent nationalities were rej^resented and the 
Americans numerically were second on the list. 
A glance at some of the principal nationalities 
represented will show the alien population of 
the second city in our land : — German, 490,592 ; 
American, 488,683 ; Irish, 248,142 ; Swedes, 111,- 
190; Poles, 96,853; Bohemians, 89,280; Nor- 
wegians, 45,680 ; English, 44,223 ; Kussians, 38,- 
987 ; Canadians, 34,907 ; Italians, 23,061 ; Scotch, 
22,932; French, 21,840; Danish, 21,761; Hol- 
landish, 19,148. Then in smaller figures follow 
Hungarians, Swiss, Welsh, Belgians, Lithuanians, 



THE FOEEIGNERS 227 

Greeks, Chinese, Spaniards, Mexicans, and Afri- 
cans. In Philadelphia, the most American of all 
our large cities, it is possible, in one section of 
the city, to walk ten squares and to hear nine 
different languages. Nor do these immense 
numbers simply settle in one large city, but they 
segregate, entirely occupying separate sections. 
The result is that most of our large cities have 
their " Little Germany," " Little Italy," " Little 
Scandinavia," and " Chinatown." The shop signs 
in such districts are written in foreign tongues, 
newspapers are printed in foreign languages, and 
the American language is spoken only by the 
children who attend the public schools. These 
classes of immigrants are ofttimes of the lowest 
social grades. They live in crowded quarters, 
surrounded by squalor and confusion. " These 
sections resemble ant-hills and beehives more 
than human habitations. The dead in our ceme- 
teries are not so closely crowded together as 
these restless, excited multitudes of the living. 
Sometimes, when a fire breaks out or a drunken 
man or woman is led away to the station house, 
all the windows are darkened, and every stair- 
way empties a living stream into the street until 
there is scarcely standing room. During hot 
summer nights, the streets are crowded until 
early morning with yawning and sleeping thou- 
sands." In such sections the Sabbath is disre- 



228 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

garded, the children are neglected, criminals are 
educated, and vice and immorality abound. 
There is no question in our national life, to-day, 
so perplexing and so vital as that of the munici- 
pality. The drift of populations is toward the 
cities. Urban life is vastly more popular than 
rural life. One-third of our population lives in 
the cities. National and state political questions 
are understood and controlled with far more ef- 
fectiveness and comprehensiveness than those of 
city government. Here bossism and machine 
politics have reached their highest perfection; 
and the foreign population in our cities is a large 
factor in the supremacy of corrupt political 
cabals. It is ignorant. It has been accustomed 
at home to be tyrannized over. It sees in 
uniformed men the representatives of the law, 
whether they be policemen or firemen, and is 
easily controlled and voted to suit the will of 
the party in power. A great step forward will 
be made in municipal reform when foreigners in 
our cities are Americanized and Christianized. 

The industrial and mining centers of our great 
Eastern States next to the cities attract our in- 
coming population. Over one half of our for- 
eign immigrants settle in the States of New York 
and Pennsylvania. Those who do not make 
their homes in the cities of Ncav York, Phila- 
delphia, and Pittsburgh, find their way to the great 



THE FOEEIGNERS 229 

mining and industrial centers of the states, es- 
pecially in Pennsylvania. Hence there are in 
these sections large numbers of Slavs, Poles, 
Italians, and Kussians. In the very heart of the 
Keystone State can be found entire communities 
of foreigners. Foreign languages are spoken, 
costumes worn, newspapers read, political and 
religious beliefs held and practiced. In indus- 
trial western Pennsylvania there are over four 
hundred thousand aliens ; and what is true of 
the industrial centers of Pennsylvania is true of 
other industrial states of the Union. American 
laborers in these sections are being rapidly dis- 
placed by foreign laborers and it is this factor 
that makes possible most of our great industrial 
strikes, particularly in the coal and iron regions. 
The laborers being of a low, ignorant and ex- 
citable class are readily imposed upon by dema- 
gogues in the persons of labor agitators. They 
are easily aroused to rebellion and even to deeds 
of violence. The seriousness of the problem of 
our foreign population from this standpoint is 
not to be overlooked. 

The third most popular destination of our in- 
coming population is the agricultural and lumber 
sections of the great West. These fields at- 
tract particularly the Danes, Germans, Swedes, 
Norwegians, Scandinavians, and Bohemians. In 
Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and other west- 



230 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIOIfS 

ern states, communities consisting almost entirely 
of foreigners may be found. Twenty counties in 
Texas are inhabited almost entirely by Germans ; 
another community will be Scandinavian and 
another Bohemian. Nor are they so in name 
only, but in speech, in manner of life, in methods 
of thinking, and in religion. Ministers and par- 
ents especially insist on continuing old country 
customs and above all others those that pertain 
to religion and the Church. They often build 
their own schools in which their own language 
is used and in which sectarian religious views 
are promulgated. In many instances the chil- 
dren are compelled to attend these schools in 
preference to the public schools of our land. 
The problem of making Americans of these vari- 
ous peoples is a great one. It can only be solved 
by the education and Christianization of the chil- 
dren and young people, and in this work the 
Church of Christ must bear a conspicuous part. 

The effects of these conditions upon our national 
life is worth the earnest consideration of every 
American statesman and citizen. Many of these 
people do not desire and do not intend to become 
citizens of our country. They come here for 
what they can make, and what they make they 
send back to their native country. This, of 
course, is not true of all classes. Many do in- 
tend to make this their home. " They regard it 



THE FOREIGNERS 231 

as a privilege and a blessing that they may en- 
joy our religious and political freedom. They 
readily assimilate our American ideas, respect 
our institutions, are a blessing to our country 
and are among its most patriotic defenders." 
The danger is not from them — but from " the 
scum of the old world, the degenerates, the im- 
moral, the anarchists, the exiles of law and 
order." Whether we can uplift them or whether 
they will drag us down is an open and unsettled 
question. With this question unsettled the risks 
taken should be no greater than are absolutely 
necessary. Until we know what is to be the 
effect of these alien thousands upon our national 
life and Christian civilization, immigration should 
be properly restricted. While our doors should 
be open to all worthy, industrious, intelligent, 
law-abiding, home-seeking classes from whatever 
country, they should be unalterably closed to the 
idle, vicious, criminal and pauper classes of all 
countries. The problem of letting in the worthy 
and keeping out the unworthy is a most difficult 
one and yet there should be intelligent states- 
manship and patriotism enough in our land to 
solve it satisfactorily. It must be solved or our 
very national life and institutions will be in 
danger. Strict, discriminating immigration laws 
must be passed and enforced or the results will 
be disastrous. 



232 PRESBYTERIA]^ HOME MISSIONS 

The Presbyterian Church from earliest times 
has had an interest in the moral and spirit- 
ual welfare of our foreign populations. Through 
various agencies it has prosecuted mission work 
among them. Local churches in our large cities, 
presbyteries, synods, the Woman's Board and 
the Board of Home Missions have engaged in the 
work of giving the gospel to the foreigners in 
the United States. 

The local work in our large cities is interesting 
and effective. Many churches have their mis- 
sions and their missionaries ; others have depart- 
ments for foreign work in their own churches. 
An illustration of the latter character is found in 
the Chinese department of the Sabbath school 
of the Arch Street Church of Philadelphia, the 
Rev. Mervin J. Eckels, D. D., pastor. In this de- 
partment there are about fifty young Chinamen. 
A number of the young men have been converted 
and in life and in death have testified to the 
genuineness of their faith. 

Presbyterial and synodical missionary work 
among the foreigners may be illustrated by that 
done in the Synod of Pennsylvania. The popu- 
lation of Pennsylvania is 6,302,115 ; of this num- 
ber, 985,250 are foreign-born and 1,430,028 are 
the children of foreign-born parents ; one per- 
son therefore in every three is foreign-born or 
the child of foreign-born parents. This makes 



THE FOREIGNERS 233 

a prolific field for mission work in Pennsyl- 
vania. The synod and presbyteries have tried 
to perform it to the best of their abilities. Five 
presbyteries in connection with the synodical 
committee are engaged in this kind of mission 
work. Allegheny Presbytery has a flourishing 
French mission at Tarentum, with about one 
hundred members. The same missionary has 
been working with success among the Italians of 
Allegheny. Blairsville Presbytery in connection 
with that of Pittsburgh has a missionary among 
the French at Jeanette, Charleroi, and other 
points. The same presbytery has a missionary 
among the Slavs at Johnstown. Bedstone Pres- 
bytery, in 1899, began work among the sixteen 
thousand Slav miners and their resident families 
in the coke regions. The first year the mission- 
ary made over seventeen hundred family visits, 
preached continually, distributed tracts, read the 
Scriptures in over six hundred homes, organized 
and superintended four Sabbath schools with an 
enrollment of one hundred and ninety-seven, in 
addition to other work of various other kinds. 
Lackawanna Presbytery has for several years 
been engaged in this kind of missionary work. 
It alone of all the presbyteries has a special 
committee in charge of this department. It re- 
cently employed three missionaries and had over 
fifteen mission stations. Nine mission teachers 



234 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

were engaged in the kindergarten work. Two 
churches have been organized from over three 
hundred members lately enrolled among the 
Hungarians by one of the missionaries. Le- 
high Presbytery for several years engaged 
in foreign work, under the Home Board, among 
the Italians. Two churches were organized, one 
of them having an enrollment of over one hun- 
dred. In 1900 this work was transferred to the 
synod from the Home Board. In addition to 
the work under the direct care of the synod, 
there are many other missionaries and missions 
among the foreign populations of Pennsylvania 
under the supervision of local churches. These 
are chiefly among the Italians, Bohemians, and 
Slavs. The Presbyteries of Pittsburgh and Alle- 
gheny organized Slavonic colportage, in January, 
1902. Three Slavonic colporteurs are engaged in 
the work. In their first month's work in January, 
they visited six hundred and thirty-five families, 
including with boarders, three thousand nine 
hundred and twenty-one men, six hundred and 
seventy-two women, eleven hundred and twenty- 
nine children. Their sales were one hundred and 
six dollars and sixteen cents, of which fourteen 
dollars were of Polish and Bohemian tracts, the 
rest being Scriptures. Their supplies are both 
from British and American sources, unexcelled 
by any in the world. 



THE FOREIGNERS 235 

The Board of Home Missions has always 
prosecuted mission work among the foreign 
population in the United States up to its ability. 
The reports of the Board to the General As- 
sembly for years back show an interest in this 
work and an appreciation of its value and im- 
portance. 

In 1850 the foreign population of the United 
States was 2,244,602 in a total population of 23,- 
191,876. The work of the Home Board was 
limited to the Germans, Hollanders, French, and 
Welsh. In 1855 the work consisted of eight 
German churches and one each among the other 
three nationalities. 

In 1860 the alien population had increased to 
4,138,697 in a total of 31,443,321. The work 
of the Board had also considerably increased. 
In 1861 it consisted of twenty-seven churches 
among the Germans, three among the French, 
and one among the Welsh. In 1867 the report 
of the Board to the General Assembly said: 
" Foreign immigration is still unabated. To 
give them schools and churches, to diffuse among 
them the leaven of a pure and elevating gospel, 
and by all means in our hands to save and bless 
them, will fall in with the high purposes of God." 

In 1870 the foreign population was 5,567,229 
in a total of 38,558,371. Our mission work at 
that time consisted of eight churches among the 



236 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

foreigners in the cities and four among the Ger- 
mans and four Hollandish missionary churches 
outside the cities. In 1874 it was reported, 
" The Board is giving increasing attention to 
mission work among the Germans, French, Span- 
ish, Hollanders, Scandinavians, and Chinese-speak- 
ing people." In 1876 missions were conducted 
among the " Hollanders, Swedish, Welsh, E"or- 
wegians, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Bohe- 
mians, and Chinese." In 1878 work had also been 
begun among the Gaels and Waldenses. 

In 1880 the foreign population amounted to 
6,679,943 in a total population of 50,155,783. 
Our work was still largely among the Germans. 
Two theological seminaries for the education of 
German ministers had been established. They 
are still doing good work. One is located at 
Bloomfield, New Jersey, and the other at 
Dubuque, Iowa. In 1886 one ordained minister 
and two licentiates began work among the 
Scandinavians. In 1887 it was reported that 
"work among the foreign population and the 
evangelization of the cities that seem to go 
hand in hand has gained interest during the 
year." 

In 1890 out of a total population of 63,069,756, 
the foreigners numbered 9,308,104. New churches 
were organized this year among the Scandina- 
vians, Bohemians, and Germans, and a young 



THE FOREIGNERS 237 

Spanish missionary was set to work among the 
Spanish-speaking people of ]S"ew York. In 1891 
a new German church was organized in Texas. 
In 1892 the German work had increased until there 
were in our country " more than 160 German 
churches in connection with the General Assem- 
bly, and 133 German ministers." These were, of 
course, not all under the Home Board. The Ger- 
man theological seminaries had eighty students, 
and two religious German papers had been 
established. Work among the Scandinavians in 
Minnesota, and the Swedes in Minneapolis and 
St. Paul, was being prosecuted. Churches with 
promising beginnings were organized among the 
Bohemians in Omaha, Cedar Eapids, Baltimore, 
Milwaukee, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, and 
Sanders County, JS'ebraska. In the same year, 
1892, small beginnings were made among the 
Italian population of Pennsylvania. In 1896 we 
had "mission churches among about thirty differ- 
ent nationalities of foreigners in our country." 
Italian churches had recently been organized in 
five different states. The work among the 
Poles and Bohemians, begun in St. Louis in 1856, 
had extended into eleven states. 

In 1900 our foreign population had increased to 
10,460,085 in a total population of 76,303,387. 
The Board, as it has had the ability, has vigorously 
carried forward its work ; and there are to-day 



238 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

under the care of the Board the following 
churches among the foreign populations of our 
country : — 

German churches in Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, 

Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, and Oregon ... 29 
Holland churches in Wisconsin, South Dakota, Montana, 

and Iowa 8 

Bohemian churches in Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, 

Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas 14 

French churches in Wisconsin 4 

Swedish churches in Minnesota 2 

Dano-Norwegian church in Minnesota 1 

Armenian church in California 1 

Jewish mission in California 1 

Chinese missions in California (Oakland Presbytery). 

Bohemian mission teacher in Minnesota 1 

Mission teachers among foreigners in Chicago 10 

In comparison to the needs of the untouched 
millions the work is small, but in comparison 
with the meager facilities of the Board, it is a 
great and growing work. 

The Woman's Board of Home Missions has 
also a part in the mission work among our 
foreigners. Their work consists of schools, 
chiefly in Chicago, Minnesota, and Pennsyl- 
vania. 

The Chicago work consists of five schools. 
These schools employ fifteen teachers, and are 
training nearly seven hundred scholars. The total 
expense is about $3,500. The Olivet Memorial 



THE FOEEIGNEES 239- 

School was organized in 1894. It is situated 
near a district long known as " Little Hell," which 
has since changed its character very much. Miss 
R. C. Beyer is the principal. Seventy per cent 
of the children are German, thirty per cent 
Swedish, with a few Polish and Irish children. 
The West Division Street School was established 
in 1895. The settlement is largely German, 
with a strong Jewish element. There are six 
teachers and one hundred and ten pupils in this 
school. The West Superior Street School was 
opened in 1897. It is carried on in the Girls' 
Mutual Benefit Club building. Evans ton young 
women bear all the expenses of this school. The 
school through the efforts of the principal, Miss 
Williamson, is reaching the mothers as well as 
the children. The Immanuel Kindergarten was 
organized in the Immanuel Church in 1899. The 
neighborhood is chiefly Roman Catholic, and ten 
different nationalities are represented — French, 
English, Irish, Scotch, Polish, Russian, Dutch, 
German, Swedish, and Bohemian. This kinder- 
garten has two teachers and fifty pupils. The 
Industrial School is held in three of these once a 
week. Religious exercises are regularly con- 
ducted. A trained sewing-school teacher is in 
charge of the industrial work. 

The woman's work in Minnesota is at New 
Prague, among the Bohemians. One Bible- 



240 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

reader is engaged in the work and a Sunday- 
school of fifty scholars has been organized. The 
mission is prospering. Mainly through the efforts 
of Mr. Sulzer, the superintendent of Sunday- 
school work in Minnesota, funds were raised for 
the building of the chapel in which the varied 
work of the mission is carried on. 

The Pennsylvania work is the latest engaged 
in by the Woman's Board. It is among the 
children of the laboring classes in the coal-min- 
ing districts of Pennsylvania. The field here is 
unlimited and promises great results. 

The presence of these thousands of alien, and 
mostly unchristian, populations in our midst is 
a providence as well as a danger. It thus gives 
us a " home-foreign " mission field. If we are 
called upon to send the gospel to foreigners in 
their homes, an infinitely greater obligation rests 
upon us to preach to them in our own land. 
God in this way has placed them at our doors as 
the man lame from his birth was placed at the 
Beautiful Gate of the temple to be healed by the 
apostles on their way to observe the hour of prayer. 
Our aim should be to heal them spiritually as the 
apostles healed the lame man physically. In so 
doing we will be rendering an inestimable service 
to our country ; we will be raising up many who 
will go back to their own lands as missionaries ; 
we will be adding new glories to the kingdom of 



THE FOREIGNEES 24:1 

Christ and turning many to righteousness which 
shall add to our own happiness : for, " They that 
turn many to righteousness shall shine as the 
stars forever and ever." 



IX 
THE ISLANDEES 



CHAPTEK IX 

THE ISLANDEES 

Peesbyteeian island home-mission work be- 
gan in 1899. It was one of the results of 
the Spanish-American War. This war left as 
a special legacy to the Christian Church of 
America the moral and spiritual care of thou- 
sands of former Spanish subjects. Our Board of 
Home Missions responded to this opportunity 
and duty and began work in Porto Kico and 
Cuba, which have become its particular island 
fields. Thus was inaugurated a new era in Pres- 
byterian home missions which hitherto had been 
limited to the continent. 

Porto Kico is in the Caribbean Sea, 1,400 miles 
from New York city and 1,000 miles from Key 
West. It area is 3,600 square miles or about 
one-half the area of New Jersey. It is one of 
the most thickly populated districts in the world, 
having a population of nearly 1,000,000 of people. 

Porto Kico was discovered by Christopher 
Columbus in 1493, while on his second voyage to 
America. The natives had a civilization of their 
own, and numbered about 300,000. Ponce de 

245 



PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

Leon visited the island in 1508, and he and his 
successive Spanish rulers have governed and 
pillaged it ever since. 

Porto Kico is the most eastern of the Greater 
Antilles in the West Indies. It is the only land 
in the world shaped like a brick. Over one-half 
of the population is white, and the remainder is 
distributed between the mulattoes and negroes. 
Slavery was abolished in 1873. 

The island is divided for administration pur- 
poses into seven provinces of nearly equal size. 
They are Aguadilla, Mayaguez, Arecibo, Ponce, 
Bayamon, Guayama, and Humacao. The island 
is traversed, east and west, by a mountain range 
which divides it unequally. Though the island 
is remarkably fertile and healthful there is a 
great barrenness in flora and fauna, flowers, 
birds, and wild animals, being exceedingly scarce. 
" Nevertheless, the entire domain is one of the 
loveliest to which man is heir, and there is such 
an irresistible fascination about it that one who 
has lived there finds that it tears his heartstrings 
to be transplanted. It grows upon one, and 
though at one's first coming there seems to be 
much disappointment, after a time this gives 
way to admiration, which is gradually super- 
seded by affection. Something about the envi- 
ronment — or it may be many things — conspire to 
make one, not speedily, but gradually, reverse 



THE ISLANDERS 247 

the first impression, and lo, and behold! you 
out-Herod Herod in your inf elt, if not outspoken, 
admiration. Gazing upon the unbroken forests 
which cover the tropical hills, you feel that the 
world is, indeed, well lost while your lines are 
cast in such pleasant places." 

The most of the population is on the lowlands 
at the sea front, since, for lack of roads, the in- 
terior is very inaccessible. The principal minerals 
found on the island are gold, carbonides and sul- 
phides of copper, and magnetic oxide of iron in 
large quantities. Marbles and limestones, unde- 
veloped, abound. Salt works, the principal min- 
eral industry, exist in two places. Hot springs 
and mineral waters are found. The climate is hot, 
but made endurable by prevailing northeast 
winds. The rainy season lasts from August to 
December. Five hundred varieties of trees are 
found in the forests. The plains are full of 
palms, oranges, and other trees. Sugar, coffee, 
tobacco, cotton, maize, bananas, rice, and pine- 
apples, form the principal products. 

San Juan, the principal city and capital of 
Porto Eico, was founded in 1611 by Ponce de 
Leon. His " White House " still exists, and his 
ashes rest in a leaden casket in the Dominican 
church of the city. Morro Castle, on a rugged 
promontory many hundreds of feet high, guards 
the entrance to the harbor. 



248 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

San Juan is medieval in its structure. It is 
entirely walled, with portcullis, moats, gates, and 
battlements, all in good repair. It has no water 
system and no industries worth mentioning. 
San Juan is our best representative of a medieval 
city. In municipal conveniences it is hundreds 
of years behind our day. But " the suburb and 
vicinage are so lovely that, if a man were taught 
how to appreciate his advantages, San Juan could 
be called the emporium of the Isles of the Blessed. 
Its climate, though warm, is for half a year not 
disagreeably so, but in the remainder, through 
sudden changes, pulmonic affections are to be 
dreaded. Epidemics, though frequent, would 
never disturb San Juan under improved sanita- 
tion." 

Ponce is the second city in size and importance 
in Porto Rico. It is in the province of Ponce on 
the south coast and about two miles inland. It 
is more modern than San Juan but not less pic- 
turesque. Its chief industries are the cultivation 
of tobacco, sugar, cocoa, and oranges, and cattle- 
breeding. " Its port, Playa, with 5,000 popula- 
tion, contains the customhouse and consular 
offices. The harbor, a commodious one, will 
float large ships. The climate, though warm, is 
tempered by sea breezes, and these make Ponce 
and Playa the healthiest towns of Porto Rico." 

Mayaguez is the third city in importance. 



THE ISLANDERS 249 

" Nearly 20,000 people dwell here, mostly white. 
This climate, too, is considered excellent, the 
temperature never rising beyond 90°. Mayaguez 
exports coffee, sugar, oranges, pineapples, and 
cocoanuts. 

" The remaining prominent cities, Arecibo, 
Aguadilla, Fa jar do, Maguabo, and Arroyo, have 
developed very slowly under Spanish misrule. 
But now, freed from maleficent influences, there 
should be phenomenal progress." 

The people of Porto Eico are of diverse char- 
acteristics and capabilities. The pure Spanish 
descendants are aristocratic, educated, chivalrous, 
and proud, lovers of good music, happy in their 
domestic relations, bountiful in hospitality, and 
loyal to Spain. The Porto Kicans are opposed to 
any work that is not absolutely necessary. The 
climate is productive both of crops and of lazi- 
ness. Great poverty prevails among the natives. 
Entertainments are much sought after. Sunday 
is a gala day. Church comes in the early morn- 
ing ; picnics and recreations of all kinds in the 
afternoon. The costumes of both sexes in Porto 
Eico are but little different from American sum- 
mer attire, except that the women seldom wear 
any head clothing. 

In the Spanish- American War of 1898, Porto 
Eico was visited in May by the American fleet, 
under Admiral Sampson, looking for Admiral 



250 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

Cervera. In July, after the destruction of the 
Spanish fleet and the surrender of Santiago, Gen- 
eral Miles, with a portion of the American army, 
invaded Porto Eico at Guanica and met with 
little resistance. By many of the people he was 
enthusiastically received and the Stars and Stripes 
were generally displayed. The United States 
took formal and complete possession of the 
island October 18, 1898. Though the consent of 
the people was not asked the great majority of 
Porto Eicans desired annexation to the United 
States. 

Progress in Porto Eico under American ad- 
ministration has been marked with encourage- 
ment. Direct taxation, the blight of the Spanish 
rule, has been abolished. Free public schools on 
the American plan were established July 1, 1899. 
In the autumn of 1899, municipal elections for 
the first time were held and trial by jury was in- 
troduced. United States money is being grad- 
ually substituted for Spanish silver. By act of 
Congress a definite civil government went into 
effect for Porto Eico, May 1, 1900. Hon. Charles 
H. Allen, of Massachusetts, was appointed the 
first Governor. The form of government resem- 
bles that of our territories with some exceptions. 
The Governor and an Executive Council are ap- 
pointed by the President. A Legislative Assem- 
bly is partly elected by the people and a resident 



THE ISLANDERS 261 

commissioner represents the island at "Washing- 
ton. Governor Allen was encouragingly re- 
ceived by the people and proved a capable and 
efficient administrative officer. 

Catholicism during the centuries of Spanish 
rule has been supreme in Porto Rico. Every 
town has its plaza, with a church on one side. 
Some of these churches are several centuries old. 
But Catholicism has long since lost its hold upon 
the Porto Eican masses, and the churches to-day 
are practically empty. These conditions are the 
results of the realization on the part of the peo- 
ple of the worthlessness of the Church and its 
work. " It has come to that people that the 
Church in the centuries past has done nothing to 
help them. Poor, ignorant, and miserable, as it 
found them, it left them, and a sense of the 
emptiness of its unintelligible forms has dawned 
upon them. So the Eoman Catholic Church of 
Spain, holding sway in Porto Rico, through 
four centuries has kept that million people in 
such absolute ignorance that not fifteen per cent 
can read or write ; she has kept them in a land 
that will yield two or three harvests a year, in 
poverty and in squalor ; she has lived and taught 
on a plane of morals so low that purity of family 
life is but little regarded and from the people is 
taken all the reality of the religion of Christ ; 
and she has so conducted herself as to drive a 



252 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

large part of the men of the island into practical 
infidelity." 

Protestantism as well as Americanism received 
a welcome on the island of Porto Eico. Plans 
were speedily put into operation for taking ad- 
vantage of the favorable situation. In the fall 
of 1899 the home missionaries of the different 
denominations had a meeting. A message was 
sent to the Porto Ricans in Spanish announcing 
their intention of coming to the island, not in 
rivalry, but as brothers to help them to Christ. 
In a general way a division of the territory was 
made among the denominations, but San Juan, 
the capital, and Ponce were left as open territory 
to any denomination. Thus at San Juan the Pres- 
byterians, Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, and 
others, are at work. Elsewhere the work is dis- 
tributed to the best advantage. 

Presbyterian mission work in Porto Rico be- 
gan in July, 1899. The first missionary was 
Rev. Milton E. Caldwell, of Cincinnati, who had 
a masterful knowledge of the Spanish language 
and was able to begin his work without delay. 
Mayaguez was the first field of labor selected. 
The services have been crowded from the very 
first. The people to whom the Bible has hitherto 
been a closed book are anxious to take advantage 
of their opportunity to have it explained to them, 
and large audiences can be gathered together 



THE ISLANDERS 263 

upon short notice. The work prospered, and a 
church — the first Presbyterian church in Porto 
Kico — was organized in April, 1900. Eleven 
members were enrolled, and the work has been 
steadily growing. La Playa, the shipping dis- 
trict of Mayaguez, next attracted the attention 
of Dr. Caldwell, and he opened a mission there. 
It is in charge of his assistant, Kev. Joseph W, 
Jarvis. Besides these flourishing churches in 
the city, occasional services are held in the three 
neighboring towns of Las Marias, Anasco, and 
Maricao. 

The Woman's Board, believing that the hope 
of Porto Eico is in the children, started a school 
in Mayaguez about the same time. About 
seventy boys and girls are being educated in this 
school. Miss Jennie Ordway is the principal. 
The other teachers are Miss Margaret Meyer, 
Miss Anna Monefeldt, and Miss Mary L. Wilson. 
These ladies have also started a school at La 
Playa, assisted by Miss Mary F. Tompkins. 

At Aguadilla — a short distance north of Maya- 
guez — Eev. Judson L. Underwood began work 
in April, 1900. Aguadilla is an ancient city on 
the west coast of the island. It is an historic 
spot, for here Columbus landed on his second 
voyage to America, in 1493. The population is 
about 8,000. The mission has been remarkably 
prosperous. Two hundred people attend the 



254 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

prayer meeting, and one hundred a Monday night 
catechism class. The first Presbyterian church 
of Aguadilla was organized with a membership 
of sixty-two in February, 1901. Mr. Underwood 
is also holding services in five out-stations — one 
of them fifteen miles away. They are San 
Sebastian, Moca, Espinal, Aguada, and the barrio 
Montana. Hundreds gladly gather to hear the 
gospel in spite of the fact that the Catholic 
priests do all in their power to keep them from 
the services. 

The Woman's Board has also opened a school 
at Aguadilla. It is in charge of Miss Annie T. 
Aitken, of Illinois, and Miss Blanche Love, of 
Maryland, and has an attendance of about forty 
pupils. 

The San Juan mission was opened in 1900, the 
Eev. J. Milton Greene, D. D., being the first 
missionary to the capital city. Dr. Greene suc- 
ceeded in erecting a substantial and attractive 
building at a cost of over $T,000 in his first year's 
labors. This building was the first Protestant 
church building in Porto Eico. The first Presby- 
terian church of San Juan was organized in 
January, 1901. Dr. Greene having been called 
to organize the work in Cuba, the Kev. J. Knox 
Hall took charge of the San Juan church in the 
summer of 1901. At La Marina, a shore ward 
in the city, a station has been opened where reg- 



THE ISLANDEES 255 

ular services are being held and a mission school 
conducted by Miss Lucie A. Butterfield and Miss 
Sarah Potter. Eev. H. L. Jason, colored, is doing 
good work among his people in San Juan. 

The Woman's Board opened a medical mission 
at San Juan, in January, 1901. Dr. Grace Wil- 
liams Atkins, a physician of experience in ISTew 
York city, began dispensary work and general 
practice among the poor people of the First 
Church. This phase of the work has met with 
great success. Dr. Atkins has been overwhelmed 
from the very start with applications for medical 
and Christian aid. 

A hospital at San Juan is an imperative neces- 
sity and a movement in this direction has already 
been begun. In August, 1901, a call was issued 
by the Home Board to the young people of the 
Church asking them to raise $8,000 as a " special " 
for this purpose, which will undoubtedly be done. 
In speaking of Dr. Atkins' work after a visit to 
Porto Rico, Dr. John Dixon, of the Home Board 
said : " A recent visit to San Juan, Porto Rico, 
enabled me to accompany Dr, Grace Atkins in 
one of her rounds in visiting the sick. It was an 
exceedingly interesting experience, as sad, how- 
ever, as stimulating. 

" Poverty seems to have a new meaning in 
that island when we consider the places in 
which the poorest people live, and the utter lack 



256 PRESBYTEEIATT HOME MISSIONS 

of the most necessary comforts and conveniences 
of life. One can be as sick and as miserable, 
and as much in need of the help of a physician 
and the accommodations of the hospital, whose 
only home is a shack in Porto Kico, as in any 
other place in this round world. The young 
people of our Church would make prompt re- 
sponse to the appeal for a modest hospital if 
they could see, but for a single hour, the depth 
of misery, and the entire absence of hope or help 
unless these sick people are reached through our 
agency. 

" Dr. Atkins sees from sixty to seventy people 
a day, reads the Scriptures to them, prescribes 
for them, visits many of them in their homes, and 
is an angel of mercy to many a sick body and 
weary heart. 

"The San Juan hospital appeals to philan- 
throphy as well as the love of the Saviour. It is 
missionary work in a very necessary, helpful and 
blessed form, and the new year ought to witness 
this charity erected and put in the way of doing 
the most good." In 1902 two additional mis- 
sionaries were commissioned for the western part 
of the island, Mr. Lopez (native) to assist Mr. Un- 
derwood at Mayaguez and Eev. James McAllis- 
ter to begin work at Isabella and out-stations. 
Our only inland mission is San German. For a 
time one of the out-stations of Dr. Caldwell, it 



THE ISLANDERS 257 

was made a separate mission in 1901 when the 
Kev. James Greer Woods, of Dubuque, Iowa, be- 
gan regular services there. ISTo more important 
interior town can claim missionar}^ service. 

After less than three years we have in 
Porto Eico to-day, three organized churches, 
eight missionaries, a dozen out-stations, four 
schools, eight teachers and a medical mission, — a 
most creditable work for the time in which it has 
been wrought. 

Cuba 

Cuba, " the pearl of the Antilles " may well be 
mentioned in connection with our Porto Eican 
mission work. Though independent, Cuba's rela- 
tion to the United States is a most intimate one, 
and at no great future date she is very likely 
to become, at her own request, a part of our 
national domain. Our first missionary to Cuba 
was Eev. Pedro Eioseco, sent out from Phila- 
delphia to Havana by the Board of Publication 
and Sabbath-School Work. 

The Home Board began work in Cuba by 
sending the Eev. J. Milton Greene, D. D., to 
Havana in the autumn of 1901. With him went 
the Eev. Herbert S. Harris and the Eev. A. 
Waldo Stevenson, young men who were anxious 
to give their lives to work in Cuba and who were 
to learn the Spanish language under the direction 



258 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

of Dr. Greene, meantime assisting him in the 
services. The Woman's Board sent out at the 
same time Miss Mabel Bristow, who has opened 
a school in Havana with encouraging success. 
The Eev. Antonio Mazzorana, a native Spaniard, 
was also commissioned as one of the Board's 
missionaries and he and Dr. Greene have charge 
of two preaching places in Havana. 

The Kev. A. Waldo Stevenson is at Guines, a 
town of about twelve thousand population. The 
opening services were crowded, as many being 
without as within the house. The respectful at- 
tention of the audience, who were composed of 
the, best people of the town, was marked and sig- 
nificant. 

The Eev. Herbert S. Harris has taken charge of 
a station at Sancti Spiritus, a town of twelve thou- 
sand population -in the city proper with eight or 
ten thousand more in its environs, offering a cor- 
dial welcome and unique opportunities for the 
entrance of missionary labor. It has always been 
a center of wealth and social influence, and for a 
long time was the seat of a superior Jesuit school. 
In neither of these large towns is there any other 
Protestant work. 

Porto Rico and Cuba present to the American 
Christian Church the rarest opportunities for mis- 
sion work that could possibly be imagined. The 
prophecy that " the isles shall wait for his law " 



THE ISLANDERS 259 

is signally fulfilled in them. These isles, so unex- 
pectedly placed under the care of our nation, are 
waiting for his law, and as Christians, we should 
not be slow in granting their desire. American 
business, industrial, educational and governmental 
ideas are being rapidly introduced among these 
thousands of islanders. The Christian Church 
should not be behind the political and commer- 
cial world in advancing its interests and in- 
fluences among these needy and waiting peoples. 
Christ's kingdom should be extended until "he 
shall have dominion from sea to sea and from 
the river to the ends of the earth." 



X 

THE GEEAT WEST 



CHAPTEE X 

THE GEEAT WEST 

No adjective better describes the western part 
of our country than the word "great." "The 
West," says Josiah Strong, " is characterized by 
largeness. Mountains, rivers, railways, ranches, 
herds, crops, business transactions, ideas ; even 
men's virtues and vices are cyclopean. All seem 
to have taken a touch of vastness from the 
mighty horizon." And no better proof can be 
found of Mr. Strong's opinion than his own. 
" Of the twenty-two states and territories west of 
the Mississippi only three are as small as all N'ew 
England. Montana would stretch from Boston 
on the east to Cleveland on the west, and extend 
far enough south to include Eichmond, Virginia. 
Idaho, if laid down in the east, would touch 
Toronto, Can., on the north, and Ealeigh, N. C, 
on the south, while its southern boundary line is 
long enough to stretch from Washington City to 
Columbus, Ohio ; and California, if on our At- 
lantic seaboard, would extend from the southern 
line of Massachusetts to the lower part of South 
Carolina ; or in Europe, it would extend from 
London across France and well into Spain. New 

263 



264 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

Mexico is larger than the United Kingdom of 
Great Britain and Ireland. The greatest meas- 
urement of Texas is nearly equal to the distance 
from ISTew Orleans to Chicago, or from Chicago 
to Boston. Lay Texas on the face of Europe, 
and this giant, with its head resting on the 
mountains of Norway (directly east of the Orkney 
Islands), with one palm covering London, the 
other Warsaw, would stretch himself down across 
the kingdom of Denmark, across the empires of 
Germany and Austria, across northern Italy, and 
lave his feet in the Mediterranean. Dakota 
might be carved into a half dozen kingdoms of 
Greece; or, if it were divided into twenty-six 
equal counties, we might lay down the two king- 
doms of Judah and Israel in each." 

The religious needs of the West are also great. 
It is more and more becoming the home of the 
foreigner who comes to our land with his irre- 
ligious and unchristian ideas and practices. The 
readiness with which people leaving Christian 
homes and Christian communities become indif- 
ferent to all religious work and worship under 
the changed conditions of the West is also an im- 
portant factor. Many who miss their religious 
opportunities are compelled to forego them be- 
cause of the sparsely settled conditions of the 
country which make stated religious worship and 
work impossible. The result is that many west- 



THE GEEAT WEST 265 

em fields to-day, are as needy of the church and 
the gospel as can be found. There are districts 
in the West occupied by many people where 
there is not a church of any denomination. One 
of our synodical missionaries was recently visited 
by a lady who begged that a mission be estab- 
lished in the community in which she lived. 
Though raised in a Christian community in the 
East she had been for fourteen years in the West 
without having the opportunity to attend a 
church service or to hear a sermon. In one 
western State, in 1901, the Presbyterian Church 
entered seven regions in which up to that time 
no church of any kind had been doing any re- 
ligious work. They were simply destitute. The 
entire Protestant force of one county in Oregon, 
a county which is a quarter larger than the whole 
State of IS'ew Jersey, consists of one Presbyterian 
and one Baptist minister. Yet there are thou- 
sands of people living in the country. In another 
western district our Church recently placed a mis- 
sionary in a community of one thousand people, 
who will preach in four different places covering 
about twenty square miles of territory and in none 
of these will he interfere with any other church, 
for no other church is to be found there. Nor, 
are these exceptional cases ; and they prove to us 
conclusively the pressing religious needs of the 
West. 



266 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

The character of the people of the West em- 
phasizes the importance of mission work in these 
localities. The vast majority are eastern people, 
and more than that, they are eastern men. The 
Atlantic states show a large excess of females 
over males, but the Pacific states show a large 
excess of males over females. Eastern men are 
therefore the principal element in the settlement 
of the West ; and as Dr. Arthur J. Brown says : 
" They are a good class of men, too. Many of 
them are intelligent farmers, who, tired of 
struggling against impoverished soil, rigorous 
winters, and droughty summers, are seeking the 
rich agricultural regions of the West. Many are 
city residents of considerable wealth and culture, 
who are attracted partly by the milder and more 
healthful climate, partly by the superior oppor- 
tunities for investment which the West affords. 
Some of these men are of high intelligence and 
capacity, the best type of eastern business men. 

" But the majority is composed of young men, 
ambitious, energetic young men — the other kind 
usually settles apathetically near the old home. 
But when the wide-awake young man is ready 
to start in life for himself, he finds that the al- 
ready-developed East offers comparatively few 
opportunities to one who has no capital or in- 
fluence. So the typical young man decides to 
' go West and grow up with the country.' " The 



THE GREAT WEST 267 

need of saving and preserving this class of our 
population to Christianity and the Church is ap- 
parent to all. How do we know but that our 
own boys may join this vast throng ceaselessly 
moving westward ? And if so, then they will be 
among those who so badly need the beneficent 
influence of Christianity and the Church. 

The future of the West also makes mission 
work there imperative. The center of popula- 
tion in the United States is gradually moving 
westward. At no distant day the balance of po- 
litical power will be held by the vast populations 
west of the Mississippi. The trend of events in 
this direction is already manifest. Nebraska has 
twice furnished the presidential candidate of one 
of our great political parties. Iowa, a great cen- 
tral western State, has the Speaker of the House 
of Kepresentatives, two members in the Presi- 
dent's Cabinet, and one of the most influential 
members in the United States Senate. " Beyond 
a peradventure, the West is to dominate the 
East. With more than twice the room and the 
resources of the East, the West will have prob- 
ably twice the population and wealth of the 
East, together with the superior power and in- 
fluence which, under popular government, ac- 
company them. The West will elect the execu- 
tive and control the legislation. When the cen- 
ter of population crosses the Mississippi, the West 



268 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

will have a majority in the Lower House, and 
sooner or later the partition of her great terri- 
tories, and probably some of the states, will give 
to the West the control of the Senate. When 
Texas is as densely peopled as "New England, it 
is hardly to be supposed that her millions will 
be content to see the 62,000 square miles east of 
the Hudson send twelve senators to the seat of 
government, while her territory of 262,000 sends 
only two. The West will direct the policy of 
the Government, and by virtue of her preponder- 
ating population and influence will determine our 
national character, and, therefore, destiny." The 
same sentiment is strikingly expressed by Dr. 
Thompson in his " Keview and Outlook " to the 
General Assembly of 1901, when he says : — " The 
work of the Central West is to build the piers on 
which the nation's weight must rest. I looked 
recently at the new bridge over the East Kiver. 
The shore approaches are long, the cables are an- 
chored far back. But standing on granite feet out 
in the river are the great steel piers that will hold 
the strain of the mighty structure. Our national 
life has long approaches. It is anchored far back 
in traditions and constitutions. But the young 
states of the West must stand like steel piers on 
granite foundations if the arch of the State shall 
stand secure from shore to shore. 

" All honor to the men who build. And when 



THE GEEAT WEST 269 

we think of the heroes of wars let us not forget 
the missionaries who toil on disgraceful stipends 
— making Christian the states that will hold the 
balance of power. They are the true nation- 
builders." 

The relation of our nation to the evangeliza- 
tion of the world also makes the Christianization 
of the West an imperative necessity. God has 
undoubtedly destined America to lead in the 
winning of the world for Christ. 

"The wondrous facts of American history," 
exclaims Strong, " are the mighty alphabet with 
which God writes his prophecies. May we not, 
by a careful laying together of the letters, spell 
out something of his meaning ? It seems to me 
that God, with infinite wisdom and skill, is train- 
ing the Anglo-Saxon race for an hour sure to 
come in the world's future. Is it manifest that 
the Anglo-Saxon holds in his hands the destinies 
of mankind for ages to come ? Is it evident that 
the United States is to be the home of this race ? 
Is it true that the Great West is to dominate the 
nation's future ? Then may God open the eyes 
of this generation! When Napoleon drew up 
his troops under the shadows of the pyramids, he 
said to his soldiers : ' Remember that from 
yonder heights, forty centuries look down upon 
you ! ' Men of this generation, from the pj^ramid 
top of opportunity on which God has set us, we 



270 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

look down on forty centuries ! We stretch our 
hand into the future with power to mold the 
destinies of unborn millions. We occupy the 
Gibraltar of the ages which commands the 
world's future." 

" We are living, we are dwelling, 
In a grand and awful time, 
In an age on ages telling. 
To be living is sublime." 

The part our nation is to play in the affairs of 
the world is already becoming more and more 
manifest. Kecent events have indicated the rela- 
tion of the West, particularly, to the world's 
problems and destiny. This is strongly evi- 
denced by the portentous events that have trans- 
pired on the Pacific coast within the last few 
years. The character and possibilities of these 
conditions have thus been set forth by Secretary 
Thompson : " When Seward said the time was 
coming when our Pacific coast would be the theater 
of the world's greatest events, w^e eastern people 
smiled in our serene and satisfied conservatism. 
We were the people, and wisdom was in danger 
of dying with us. But something has happened. 
It requires no prophet to forecast the time when 
the Pacific will be the world's central sea. One- 
third of the human family already throngs its 
coasts, and they are getting ready for great 



THE GREAT WEST 271 

affairs. The two dominant lines of the human 
march approach each other on that sea. The 
Anglo-Saxon is leaving the ancestral home. 
Most of them have pitched their tents on these 
American shores. The old world's camps are 
breaking up, and more are coming. They are 
moving westward, drawn by the events of Sew- 
ard's prophecy. From the other side another 
column is moving eastward ; the soon-to-be 
second race of all races ; the Slav — slow, stealthy, 
sturdy ; moving like a bear, clumsily rolling over 
the steppes of Asia. He approaches the Pacific. 
China gasps, Japan doubles her artillery, and 
America may well ponder ! What does it all 
portend ? Shall these two great columns meet ? 
The one armored with new ideas— the other 
heavy with the impact of the old. And if they 
meet — what then? If our lines bend upward 
along the Aleutian Islands, those broken piers of 
immemorial history, if the Slavic lines gather 
across the narrow straits, what then but the 
world's Armageddon and the final conflict be- 
tween liberty and tyranny, Christianity and 
superstition ? 

"The Pacific shores tingle with possibilities. 
Great cities have taken their sentinel positions. 
Canyons and forests fill up with the ranks. 
What banners shall they fly ? Christ's or Belial's ? 
Now is the coign of vantage for the Church. 



272 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

To-day calls the opportunity whose knell to- 
morrow may sound." 

For the world's sake, the Central West and 
the Pacific should be won for Christ. 

The Presbyterian Church has been earnest and 
progressive in its prosecution of mission work in 
the West. It has not neglected the East. 
Needy agricultural communities in JSTew England 
have been helped; struggling missions in our 
great cities have been fostered and encouraged ; 
a helping hand has been extended to weak or- 
ganizations in all eastern synods that are not 
self-supporting, and the exceptional populations 
have been cared for. But the great work of the 
Home Board and of the home missionary for many 
years has been in the West, and it is our great 
missionary field to-day. Here "the gospel's 
joyful sound " needs to be heard in hamlet, vil- 
lage, town, and city, and the songs of the re- 
deemed need to be sung by the vast and sturdy 
population that is to determine the future char- 
acter and destiny of our nation. 

Presbyterian mission work in the West began 
about the middle of the eighteenth century. 
From the visit of Marcus Whitman, and even be- 
fore, the Presbyterian Church has been earnest 
and zealous in its efforts to send the gospel and 
the Church to this great mission field of our 
land. Dr. Thompson says : " It is 1850. The 



THE GEEAT WEST 273 

march goes on — the banner of the Cross well at 
the front. It has crossed the Mississippi and the 
plains. It has staked out the central empire of 
the continent and by missionary enterprise so ef- 
fectively claimed that land for Christian liberty, 
— from which only at the beginning of the cen- 
tury the Lilies of French monarchy had retired 
— that in a single generation two thousand Pres- 
byterian churches were organized west of the 
Mississippi. 

" That march was made hot and furious by the 
rush for California gold, as now for Alaska. At 
the foot of Pike's Peak is a lonely little cluster 
of graves, marked as the graves of the '49-ers. 
With their passionate eyes on the rocky barriers 
they had not strength to climb, they slipped un- 
der the tent of the prairie grass and rest in un- 
marked graves. But beside them marched and 
rests on many a prairie, in many a canyon, an- 
other company who sought not gold but men — 
graves of our missionary heroes — every leafy 
mound of which has angel guarding. Those un- 
marked graves punctuate a national advance that 
has been ever upward, that in a century has 
swung its lines over the Alleghanies and over 
the Sierras and has given to the ideals of our 
forefathers the validity of history." 

Presbyterian mission work in the West has 
been on a large scale and large results have been 



274 PKESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

produced. In the Western States in 1901 we had 
18 synods, 101 presbyteries, 2,533 ministers, 
3,080 churches and 257,279 church members ; and 
yet after all the years of missionary work the 
Board is still helping 1,790 churches in the "West, 
arranged as follows, according to the reports of 
1902. 



SYNODS 


CHURCHES 


MISSIONS 


Texas 


35 


24 


Michigan 


107 


71 


Wisconsin 


71 


52 


Minnesota 


160 


97 


Iowa 


143 


100 


Missouri 


105 


63 


N. Dakota 


73 


61 


S. Dakota 


102 


69 


Nebraska 


133 


87 


Kansas 


160 


94 


Indian Ter. 


91 


55 


New Mexico 


57 


36 


Montana 


35 


21 


Colorado 


85 


62 


Utah 


39 


36 


Washington 


119 


95 


Oregon 


83 


62 


California 


105 


77 



Total 1,703 1,152 

Thus about two-thirds of our ministers in the 
West to-day are missionaries and over one-third 
of our churches are still receiving some help from 
the Board, and nine-tenths of all the others have 



THE GREAT WEST 275 

done so at some time in their history. Every 
Presbyterian church in Iowa has been aided by 
the Home Board. But one in Kansas is out of 
this category. There is scarcely a church in 
Wisconsin that has not been built up by the aid 
of home missions, and this can be said of almost 
every other western State. 'Nor is all the pioneer 
work done. This is shown by the fact that for 
the year ending March 31, 1902, seventy new 
churches were organized. Outside the West and 
the exceptional populations the Board has very 
few missionaries. It has one in Alabama ; 
seventeen in Florida ; seven in Massachusetts ; 
two in JSTew Hampshire ; one in N"ew York ; two 
in E'ew Jersey ; six in Pennsylvania, whose salaries 
are specially provided for ; two in Khode Island ; 
one in Yermont ; and one in West Yirginia — in all 
forty-six. Thus again we see the stupendous 
magnitude and importance of our home mission 
work in the West. Here the real battle in the 
Christianization of our land is being fought, and 
there is no more important work in the Church 
to-day than that of holding the West for Christ. 
It won and America is won : America won, and 
the world is won. How much then is involved 
in this phase of Christian missions ! And how it 
behooves us to support the Home Board in its 
work ! " Talk about the silver question, and the 
labor question ! The question of America, the 



276 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

question demanding the highest and broadest 
statesmanship, is the evangelization of the Great 
West. Every other good thing to America and 
to the world will follow in the wake of that. 
High on the roll of the nation's great will yet 
be written the names of the men who most 
clearly saw this and gladly devoted their splendid 
administrative abilities to its achievement, and 
conspicuous on that roll will be the names of 
those sainted patriots — Marcus Whitman and 
Aaron Lindsley, Cyrus Dickson and Henry 
Kendall." 

The part that has been played by the home 
missionary in developing the West into a mighty, 
glorious empire will never be fully estimated and 
appreciated. This fact should interest every 
Presbyterian in the cause of home missions. 
No less authority than Senator Hoar, of Massa- 
chusetts, has declared on the floor of the United 
States Senate that he who would measure the 
greatness of our country's history must take into 
account the home missionary. And while this 
is true of the home missionary in all parts of 
our land it is particularly true of the home mis- 
sionary in the West. 

The home missionary and his church and 
Sunday school have had a part in the political 
development of the West. They have been cen- 
ters of loyalty and patriotism. " Into the great 



THE GREAT WEST 277 

"West went the churches and these continued 
what they were in the beginning, centers of po- 
litical intelligence, of patriotic devotion, and of 
hope for the future. The holy and everlasting 
principles taught in the Church wove new stars 
and stripes to wave over new homes and added 
new state luminaries to the galaxy which dotted 
the blue in our national banner. The Stars and 
Stripes are at home wherever the Christian mis- 
sionaries take the land and fill it with churches." 
In " The Church and the Kepublic," a volume in 
the series '' Makers of the American Eepublic," 
the Kev. David Gregg, D. D., comes to this con- 
clusion concerning the home missionary, and his 
relation to our political development : " We have 
found that the churches of God are blessings to 
our republic ; the questions now are, where shall 
we plant them, and how ? The great cause of 
home missions, which knocks at our door, an- 
swers both questions. Plant them at the stra- 
tegic points which we have chosen in the ^N^orth 
and West, and which form our field of labor, and 
plant them by contributing of your gold to re- 
plenish the treasury. Let there be no footsteps 
backward in giving and sending. A great field 
is open to us in the Great West — fields as large 
as Germany, as large as England, as large as 
France. You could take the whole of France 
and put it into the State of Texas and then 



278 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

have a border of twenty miles all around un- 
covered. 

" When I look at the great vrork to be done, I 
thank God for the Home Missionary Boards of 
the different denominations, who are so alive to 
the needs of the hour and so willing to push the 
work. These Boards have done grand service for 
our country. I want to tell you this : I have 
found out by investigation that the first churches 
in Cleveland, in Sandusky, in Galena, in Beloit, 
in Dubuque, in Burlington, in Leavenworth, in 
Omaha, in Cheyenne, in Tacoma, and in other im- 
portant centers, were home missionary churches. 
The home missionary societies have founded 
over five-sixths of all the churches in the great 
Western States. In view of this I am ready to- 
day to affirm that if you subtract home mission- 
ary societies from our national history, you sub- 
tract the freedom from our republic." 

Home missions have also had a decided influ- 
ence in the material development of the West. 
Had the missionary and the mission church not 
gone to the growing population of the West the 
disastrous results could not be estimated. What 
better testimony of the material advantages of 
missions than a desire of even the churchless for 
the churches. Unbelievers rarely oppose the 
building of churches. They more often assist by 
liberal gifts in building them, on the ground 



THE GREAT WEST 2Y9 

" that a church is a good thing for any commu- 
nity." A saloon-keeper in one of our western 
towns voluntarily subscribed $200 to a church 
building, giving as his reason that "it increases 
the desirability of the settlement and the value 
of property." One of our missionaries relates 
this circumstance : — 

" I was told, not long ago, the history of two 
western cities situated not far apart. In an 
early day, the men who founded one town were 
actuated by motives of self-interest. They were 
bound to get rich and they did. Few business 
men in this city are Christians. The young men 
are following in the footsteps of their elders, and 
the Sabbath is desecrated openly. Far and wide 
the moral condition of the place is known to be 
notoriously bad. 

" In the other city the founders were men who 
supported the Church as faithfully as their tem- 
poral affairs. The young men are also church- 
goers and are growing into positions of influence. 
The town is widely known for its good homes and 
wholesome social life. Said a young commercial 
man, not long ago, ' There is no place in which 

I would rather live than ' (naming this 

place). What has brought about this favorable 
condition ? I can conceive of nothing so much 
as the wholesome influence of the Church which 
the founders of this town labored so zealously to 



280 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

establish and maintain. Back of all that is best 
in this busy city is the church work and the 
church life." 

Kev. K. 1^. Adams, our synodical missionary 
for Minnesota, declares : — " If I were called upon 
to estimate the material worth of home mission 
churches in the development of the country, I 
would say that every dollar spent in the work of 
home missions is worth more than one hundred 
times its value in money, in the way of giving 
commercial value to property and in the way of 
giving character to communities, towns and cities 
which is absolutely essential to the growth and 
continued prosperity of any state or nation." 

Says another missionary : — " Wherever our 
Home Mission Board has planted churches, and 
wherever our Woman's Board has sustained mis- 
sionaries and teachers for the schools, in JSTew 
Mexico, Arizona, and all through the West and 
Southwest, prosperity has been everywhere ap- 
parent, and railroads have found their interest 
greatly enhanced. Our Church has been fore- 
most as a civilizer, refiner, and mighty force in 
developing these states and territories." 

But the political and material influence of the 
home missionary church is as nothing compared 
to its educational, social, moral and spiritual in- 
fluence. Along these lines the Church does and 
always has done the work that no other agency 



THE GEEAT WEST 281 

or institution can accomplish. Since such is the 
character of the work is it any wonder that the 
Church should have gone to the West and that 
those who understand the character, influence, 
and value, of its work should desire that it should 
keep step with the ever advancing and increasing 
population ? The wonder would have been had 
it not done so. This would have been the shame 
and the crime. And what now is to be our atti- 
tude toward the continuance of home missions 
in the west? With Dr. Arthur J. Brown, we 
would answer : — " Men and brethren, this work 
of evangelization must go on. We are called to 
it by every consideration of patriotism and re- 
ligion. It is the cause of country, the cause of 
humanity, and the cause of God. We must 
evangelize the West for the sake of the people 
who are already there and who are going there. 
They are souls for whom Christ died as well as 
the hordes of Africa. We must evangelize it for 
the sake of our country, of which it is an integral 
and important part. In 1803, Kobert Living- 
stone told E"apoleon that * we should not send a 
settler across the Mississippi for a hundred years.' 
Before that century had expired, the center of 
population for the entire country was already 
near the Mississippi River, and ere another dec- 
ade was likely to cross it. May God have mercy 
on our country if the coming millions of the 



282 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

West are not pervaded by the gospel of Christ I 
Whether the West wants to be evangelized or 
not, we must evangelize it. We cannot afford to 
leave so influential a part of our country to god- 
lessness and its attendant perils. Nay, we dare 
not disobey the God who has commanded us to 
* go up and possess the land,' and who will pun- 
ish us if we disobey, as he punished Israel of 
old. The people of the West are doing all they 
can for themselves, laboring with splendid intelli- 
gence and devotion, and giving more jper cwpita 
than most eastern synods. But their numbers 
are yet few, the region to be supplied is vast, and 
they need the same help which the East received 
when similarly situated. That help should be 
given now, ere the formative period passes and 
fixity of character is attained." 



XI 
THE SYE^ODS 



CHAPTER XI 

THE SYNODS 

An interesting phase of Presbyterian home 
missions is to be found outside of the Home 
Board's work, in that of the synods in their own 
bounds, which is called Synodical Sustentation or 
Home Missions. Synodical missions constitute 
one of the oldest forms of home missionary 
work. Before the General Assembly was organ- 
ized the Synod of Philadelphia, our first synod, 
was engaged in such work. " On nearly every 
page of the minutes of the first synod are found 
what are called ' supplications ' for new and feeble 
and distant settlements for missionaries and mis- 
sions to aid in their support. Burdened with 
the growing spiritual needs the synod sent fre- 
quent and urgent supplications to the Synods of 
Scotland and Ireland and to the evangelical min- 
isters of London and Dublin for ministers and 
money to aid in their maintenance." In 1Y91, 
the Synods of Yirginia and of the Carolinas be- 
gan missionary work within their own bounds ; 
and in 1802, the year of the organization of the 
Assembly's Home Mission Committee, the Synod 
285 



286 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

of Pittsburgh followed in the missionary footsteps 
of its synodical associates. 

The present plan of synodical home missions 
originated in a suggestion of the Board of Home 
Missions to the General Assembly in 1883. Its 
report for that year said, " The West has opened 
to us rapidly, and the demands made by its desti- 
tute fields on our treasury are so great it would 
be Avell for the large and wealthy Synods of 'New 
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and per- 
haps Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois, to undertake 
the support of their own weak churches. . . . 
Without indicating how the details should be ar- 
ranged the Board is satisfied that the suggestion is 
worthy of the careful consideration of the synods." 
In acting upon this report the General Assembly in 
1883, " Eesolved that this Assembly commend to 
the favorable consideration of the older synods 
the suggestions of the Board of Home Missions 
in regard to sustentation." Thus synodical home 
missions, as we have them to-day, had their birth. 

The response to this suggestion of the Home 
Board was generally favorable. The interest in 
synodical home missions has grown, until to-day 
nine synods are self-supporting and others par- 
tially so. The self-supporting synods are Penn- 
sylvania, New York, New Jersey, Indiana, 
Baltimore, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, and Mich- 
igan. 



THE SYNODS 287 

The Synod of Pennsylvania, in 1883, in re- 
sponse to the call of the General Assembly ap- 
pointed a committee to prepare a plan of synod- 
ical sustentation. The committee reported in 
1884 and the report was adopted after some 
amendments in 1885. In connection with the adop- 
tion of the committee's report it was " Kesolved, 
first, that the synod assume particular charge of 
sustentation within its own bounds, after obtain- 
ing the approval of two-thirds of the presby- 
teries. Eesolved, second, that in this action the 
synod must be understood as not in any wise 
diminishing or delaying the duty of our ministers 
and churches in the great work of home missions. 
The synod, in taking this action, is moved by the 
desire to make the work of home missions as 
conducted by the General Assembly more effi- 
cient in the synod." The sy nodical committee 
consists of one minister and one elder from each 
presbytery, elected by the presbyteries. "The 
name shall be the Committee on Sustentation 
in the Synod of Pennsylvania." The duties of 
the committee are to secure funds by annual col- 
lections from churches and Sabbath schools and 
in every other way possible ; to disburse these 
funds among presbyteries proportioned to their 
needs and as shown by the recommendations of 
the standing committees on sustentation in the 
presbyteries. The funds are to be distributed to 



288 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

pastors, evangelists, and supplies. The minimum 
salary is eight hundred dollars per year, the 
maximum is twelve hundred. At least one-half 
of the salary must be paid by the aid-receiving 
church and each church receiving aid must con- 
tribute at least five dollars per member on the 
average to the salary. The assisted churches 
are also required to contribute annually to all the 
Boards. The officers of the committee consist of 
a president, vice president, corresponding secre- 
tary, and treasurer. 

The sustentation work of the Synod of Penn- 
sylvania is most comprehensive and effective. 
The reports to synod in 1901 show that for 
the previous year $23,920.57 had been given for 
the cause. "Last year," says the report, "194 
churches and missions were aided ; the salaries of 
154: ministers were supplemented ; 1,092 persons 
were added on profession of faith and 562 by 
letter ; 1,654 were thus added to these churches ; 
16,520 children received instruction in the Sab- 
bath schools; $98,521 were contributed for 
church support ; $14,923 were gathered for the 
Boards of our Church, an average of $100 from 
each pastoral charge. What did it cost the 
synod to carry on this good work for Christ and 
his kingdom ? Answer, $29,405.67. How much 
of this money went directly into the salaries of 
the workers in the field? $27,912.39. How 



THE SYNODS 289 

much was required to keep this machinery run- 
ning ? $1,493.67. And the committee would like 
every pastor, elder, and communicant, in the 
s3^nod to know for what even that sum was ex- 
pended. You find the answer in the treasurer's 
statement. It cost $191.54 to bring the commit- 
tee together from the widely separated presby- 
teries of the synod, in order that every part of 
the field might be represented in the distribution 
of funds. For the expenses of the secretary, for 
printing and distribution of 1,500 annual reports, 
60,000 leaflets, 40,000 collection envelopes, and 
other absolutely necessary expenses, the synod 
paid $893.99. To the treasurer, for clerk hire, for 
postage and printing and other incidentals, 
$407.75. 

" Fifteen years ago this synod faced the fact that 
one-fourth of its churches were too weak to pay 
living salaries to their pastors, and were therefore 
most of the time vacant, depending upon occa- 
sional supplies. The disastrous results of such 
vacancies are too well known to need comment. 
Now, remember that last year these churches had 
regular services; that over 150 ministers were 
regularly employed who, without this aid, could 
not have been supported ; that more than 1,000 
souls were brought to Christ, and over 1,600 
were gathered into church homes ; and that with- 
out such a state of things the $15,000 that found 



290 PEESBYTEEIATT HOME MISSIONS 

its way into the treasuries of the Boards would 
have been lost. Sustentation has come to these 
churches in their extremity, has enabled them to 
have pastors, has stimulated them to self-support, 
and has developed their Christian liberality by 
the conditions that it imposes. 

" That in the past thirteen years 334 churches 
and missions have been aided ; that seventy-five 
churches have been raised to the point of self- 
support ; that more than 13,000 souls have been 
brought to Christ in these weak churches, and 
more than 18,000 added to their membership ; 
that in the past nine years over $120,000 have 
been collected for the Boards of our Church from 
the aided churches — all this furnishes evidence 
conclusive, we think, that these weak churches 
have fields for work, that they have a right to 
exist, that they are worthy of help, that they de- 
serve help, that this great Synod of Pennsylvania 
ought to help them to the extent of the small 
amount of aid for which they ask. We do not 
believe that such a record as this can be dupli- 
cated in the history of home missions in this 
land. Let pastors present these facts to their 
congregations, and we are confident that 
the problem of the lack of funds will be 
solved." 

The ISTew York plan of sy nodical aid was 
adopted in 1886, and has been subjected to fre- 



THE SYNODS 291 

quent amendment. By the provisions of the 
Act as amended in 1898 it is declared that "each 
presbytery shall have charge of work within its 
bounds." It is required that churches shall, as 
far as possible, be served by pastors and shall 
contribute to the Boards and strive to become 
self-supporting. Presbyteries are expected to try 
to unite contiguous aid-receiving churches. The 
churches are required to pay annually on the 
pastor's salary at least $6.50 per member. Each 
presbytery has a committee on home missions. 
They must approve all applications for aid and 
report their finding to the presbyteries at the set 
fall meetings. Churches desiring aid are re- 
quired to apply to the chairman of the presby- 
terial committees. The chairmen of the various 
presbyterial committees together with five 
elders, annually appointed by synod, constitute 
a permanent committee of the synod on synod- 
ical missions. " It shall be the duty of this com- 
mittee to convene annually before the meeting 
of the synod to make an estimate of the amount 
needed to carry on the work of synodical mis- 
sions for the ensuing year ; to recommend to 
the synod the amount each presbytery shall be 
entitled to draw from the fund; and suggest 
such methods as may seem best adapted to secure 
the required amount." "The permanent com- 
mittee shall appoint an executive committee 



292 PRESBYTEKIAN HOME MISSIONS 

with power to act ad interim." " At each of its 
annual meetings the synod shall appoint a super- 
intendent of synodical missions whose term shall 
date from the first of November following and 
whose salary shall not exceed $2,000 per year 
and necessary expenses on the fields. He shall 
act in each presbytery in cooperation with the 
presbytery's committee and shall devote his time 
and efforts to the encouragement of weak 
churches and procuring the pastors or supplies 
for vacant churches and a general fostering and 
developing of the work of the church throughout 
the State." Synod shall annually appoint a 
treasurer. " It shall be his duty to receive and 
administer the funds contributed to this object, 
subject to the regulations of synod. He shall be 
required to give bond." " The permanent com- 
mittee shall consider the reports of presbytery's 
committees and recommend to synod the amount 
which each presbytery shall be entitled to re- 
ceive. In case there is not a sufficient amount of 
money in the treasury the executive committee 
has the power to apportion the amount on hand 
among the churches." 

" The work in our State " says the synodical 
committee's report in 1901, " is appealing more 
and more to the Christian people as they become 
more familiar with its methods and results. 
Each year witnesses an increase in gifts for this 



THE SYNODS 

object and the work of the Church in the State is 
being expended in the planting of new churches 
and the firmer establishment of the old by com- 
bining fields under one pastor." 

The Synod of New Jersey inaugurated its plan 
for sustentation in 1886, after a three years' con- 
sideration of the recommendation of the Board. 
It guards against interference with the contribu- 
tions of the Home Board in its first declaration : 
"In order that a synodical sustentation fund 
may not interfere with the general work of the 
Board of Home Missions every church in the 
synod is enjoined to take an annual contribution 
for the Board of Home Missions as hitherto." 
Each presbytery has its own committee. The 
presbyterial chairmen make the synodical com- 
mittee. No salary is paid to any officer and 
necessary expenses for stationery, printing and 
other incidentals, have been kept below one hun- 
dred dollars per year. The presbyterial com- 
mittees report to the synodical committee and it 
to the synod. The synod each year allots to 
each presbytery a definite amount to raise and 
expend. The money is sent to the treasurer of 
the synodical committee. The funds are subject 
to the exclusive control of the presbyteries, ac- 
cording to the synod's general rules. The min- 
imum salary is placed at $600 and the maximum 
salary at $1,200. Except in extreme cases, 



294 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

churches seeking aid must pay at least one-half 
the salary agreed upon. 

The 'New Jersey plan has been a signal suc- 
cess. It is economical and wise. In the first 
thirteen years of its operation the Synod of IS^ew 
Jersey raised $185,000 for sy nodical missions 
and $641,147.28 for the Home Board, making a 
grand total for home missions of $826,147.28 — a 
record to be proud of. 

The Synod of Indiana in 1890 adopted a plan 
of home missions, that has aroused a great deal 
of interest and discussion. By this plan the 
synod's committee consists of the chairmen of the 
several presbyterial committees together with 
the synodical chairman of home missions elected 
by the synod, and the treasurer chosen annually 
by the committee. The executive committee, 
consisting of the chairman, secretary, and 
treasurer, conducts business ad interim, and 
draws all orders on the treasurer. Each 
presbytery has its committee. Churches are 
apportioned on the basis of thirty-five cents 
per member as a minimum contribution. All 
money is sent to the treasurers of the presby- 
terial committees and thence to the treasurer of 
the synod's committee. All churches are re- 
quested to take two collections annually for 
home missions. Aid given to a church, as a 
rule, is arranged on a sliding scale of reduction. 



THE SYNODS 295 

The home mission committee is empowered to 
employ evangelists for work among weak 
churches. "An amount equal to ten per cent, 
of the money raised by the thirty -five cent ap- 
portionment is guaranteed by the synod for the 
work of the Board of Home Missions at ISTew 
York." In one particular the Indiana plan 
differs radically from most others. Money is 
not sent directly to the Home Board but goes to 
the synodical committee, and first of all the 
Indiana missions must be cared for. The Home 
Board, however, has not been neglected. The 
report of the synod for 1901 shows that for the 
year ending September 30, 1901, $13,403.39 were 
given to Indiana missions and a little more, 
$13,532.27, (not including women's societies), to 
the Home Board. 

The Synod of Baltimore adopted its plan for 
sustentation in 1892. In that year the com- 
mittee on home missions recommended " that in 
response to the repeated recommendations of the 
Assembly and the appeals of the Home Board to 
the older and stronger synods, recognizing the 
benefits actually found by the synods which 
have adopted synodical sustentations, in view of 
the present emergency in our home mission 
work and in answer to the overture of the Pres- 
bytery of Baltimore that the Synod of Baltimore 
do now inaugurate the plan of sustentation for 



296 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

the assistance of weaker churches within its 
bounds." 

To carry out this resolve a permanent " Com- 
mittee of Home Missions " was arranged for to 
consist " of the chairmen of the home missionary 
committees of the presbyteries and one elder 
from each presbytery to be nominated by the 
presbytery for the place." The committee 
elects its own chairman, secretary, and treasurer, 
for terms of three years. It holds quarterly 
meetings. Traveling expenses but no salaries 
are paid to the members. The committee is 
" charged with the duty of circulating informa- 
tion concerning the sustentation work of the 
synod and in all possible ways of promoting the 
contributions to the cause." The presbyterial 
committees make annual reports to the synod- 
ical committee and this committee reports an- 
nually to the synod. "Each congregation is 
enjoined to take at least one annual collection in 
addition to the annual contribution which each is 
expected to make to the Board of Home Mis- 
sions." All money is sent to the synodical 
treasury. "The power to make grants to par- 
ticular churches shall rest entirely with the 
presbyteries." 

The conditions under which the presbyteries 
can grant applications are as follows : — All applica- 
tions must be approved by the presbytery and 



THE SYNODS 297 

receive a two-third vote by ballot ; the amount 
granted shall ordinarily not be above one half of 
the salary; the minimum salary to be paid is 
$700 and the maximum $1,200 ; sustentation 
pastors or supplies must report regularly every 
three months to the committee and all aid-re- 
ceiving churches are required to take annual col- 
lections for all the Boards. 

Synodical work in the Synod of Baltimore has 
been successful though the synod is not as yet 
self-supporting but receives some help from the 
Board. During the ten years of operation the 
reports to the synod have been most encourag- 
ing. The report for 1901 says : " There has been 
an increase in ten years of forty -two ministers, 
twenty-three churches and 5,768 members. In 
1891 the total contributions to home missions 
were $16,005, in 1901 they were $18,757, an in- 
crease of $2,752 besides $4,866 contributed to 
sustentation. For five years before sustentation 
was adopted the Home Board spent on an 
average $4,800 annually in support of the 
churches of the synod. Since then about $9,600 
annually have been spent in aid of the work of 
the synod. In other words we are expending 
twice as much money and doing more than twice 
as much work besides doing it more satisfactorily 
and at the same time increasing the gifts to the 
Board. . . . Sustentation is more than clear 



298 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

gain. A large part of the increase in the synod 
of ministers, churches, and membership, is due to 
it. Eegularity and certainty of success have not 
only kept churches from declining but have built 
up many of them." 

The Synod of Illinois in 1893 appointed a com- 
mittee to " prepare and submit to the next meet- 
ing of the synod a plan for sy nodical sustentation." 
This committee reported in 1894 and its report 
was referred back to receive the approval of the 
presbyteries. In 1895 the committee's report was 
adopted. By it the " synod assumed all finan- 
cial responsibility for and all direction of home 
mission work within its bounds." The commit- 
tee consists of the chairmen of the presbyteries' 
home mission committees and a chairman and 
treasurer of synodical sustentation who are elected 
by the synod. The committee holds "two regu- 
lar meetings each year and appoints synodical 
evangelists as may be needed and superintends 
their work," — the details being left in the hands 
of the home mission committees of the presby- 
teries where the work is done. All churches are 
asked to make two offerings a year to synodical 
missions by subscription cards. " The churches 
shall forward such offerings to their presbytery's 
treasurer of home missions." Estimated require- 
ments and contributions are made by each pres- 
bytery to the committee of synod at the autumn 



THE SYNODS 299 

meeting preceding the meeting of the synod. 
Estimated contributions must not be less than 
thirty cents per member. Presbyteries reaching 
an amount above their requirements forward the 
surplus to the synodical treasury. Those failing 
to reach the amount needed are helped by the 
committee of synod. Presbyteries are urged to 
exercise episcopal authority in grouping depend- 
ent churches and to give aid generally on a sliding 
scale of reduction. All funds not used in the 
synod's work " shall be forwarded to the treas- 
urer of home missions in ]S"ew York." 

The report of the committee of the synod for 
1901 declares that " it is a pleasure to repeat that 
through the operation of our system the Synod of 
Illinois has had a larger share in the general work 
(of home missions), the balance turned over to the 
treasury of the Board being larger than hitherto. 
. . . There has been encouraging progress 
in the synodical work. . . . The spiritual re- 
sults of the work within our synod have been 
quite encouraging." In the last year 131 churches 
were aided, and 100 missionaries were employed. 
Three hundred and ninety-six churches out of 
4Y6 gave to synodical aid. Thirty thousand four 
hundred and ninety-seven dollars were contrib- 
uted and for home missions through all agencies 
a grand total of $73,152. 

The present plan of synodical sustentation in 



300 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

Kentucky was adopted in 1894. In the adopting 
act it is declared tliat the sjnodical committee 
" shall be known as the Executive Committee of 
Synodical Missions and it shall have its quarters 
in the city of Louisville." It consists of fourteen 
members — three ministers and three elders from 
the Presbytery of Louisville, and two ministers 
and two elders from each of the other presby- 
teries. The presbyteries nominate members to 
the synod, the chairman of each presbyterial com- 
mittee on home missions being one. The officers 
consist of chairman, secretary, and treasurer : the 
chairman supervises the work of the committee ; 
the secretary's relation is similar to that of our 
secretaries to the Boards ; the treasurer receives 
all money and disburses it by order of the com- 
mittee and reports annually to the synod. The 
churches are expected to take up at least one col- 
lection annually, the money being sent to the 
synodical treasurer. This is in addition to the 
regular collection for the Home Board which is 
sent to 'New York. To receive aid the session of 
churches must apply to the committee after their 
applications have been approved by their presby- 
tery. The applications are considered at regular 
meetings only, and not over $200 annually is 
given to any one church. 

The Synod of Kentucky is not yet entirely self- 
supporting, but its synodical work is encouraging. 



THE SYNODS 301 

In 1901 the report of the committee to the synod 
was as follows : " Our contribution to the Board 
of Home Missions this year was $4,829, an in- 
crease of $977 over last year. To the synod's 
fund the contribution was $4,393, a gain of $1,232 
over last year. $9,224 was the aggregate of our 
contributions to home missions raised in the field, 
an increase of $2,209 over last year. From out- 
side sources there came $5,650, making a grand 
total for home mission work in this synod of 
$14,874." 

The Ohio plan of synodical aid as recorded in 
the minutes of 1899, is substantially as follows : 
The synodical committee consists of the chair- 
men of the presbyteries' committees together 
with its own chairman and treasurer. The com- 
mittee holds annual meetings preceding that of 
the synod. It has its own officers which consist 
of chairman, secretary, and treasurer. The treas- 
urer receives all funds and makes an annual re- 
port to the committee. A superintendent of home 
missions is employed, his salary being fixed by 
the synodical committee. " It shall be the duty 
of the superintendent to devote his whole time to 
the mission work of the synod under the direction 
of the home mission committee of the synod and 
especially shall he be required to take notice of 
delinquent presbyteries and exert all possible in- 
fluence to induce them to reach their portion." 



302 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

The financial basis is thirty-five cents per mem- 
ber. The superintendent in addition solicits funds 
from the churches. Presbyteries are required to 
estimate their contributions and needs. " Appli- 
cations for aid are required to be invariably ac- 
companied by a subscription paper containing the 
names of all the members of the church, thus 
showing the contributing and non-contributing 
members." All money is sent from the churches 
to the presbyterial treasurers who forward it to 
the synodical treasurer. " The basis is eight cents 
per member annually, in quarterly instalments 
of two cents per month. The remainder is used 
in the presbytery and if any is left in the synod- 
ical treasury it is used for general work in em- 
ploying evangelists. Dependent churches, so far 
as possible, are grouped together. Each presby- 
tery to receive aid must make a fair effort to raise 
thirty-five cents per member. Each church is 
asked to give two offerings per year to the cause." 
" In applying the principles and rules of this plan 
synod recognizes the liberty of the local churches 
to give directly to the treasurer of the Home 
Board if they so desire and the right of the Home 
Board if they so desire as the representative of 
the General Assembly to ask for said contribu- 
tions. But when this is done an amount equal to 
at least thirty-five cents per member additional 
should be contributed by this same church, for 



THE SYNODS 303 

our synodical home mission work. An amount 
equal to twenty-five per cent of the thirty-five 
apportionment upon the membership of the en- 
tire synod shall be guaranteed by the synod to 
the Board of Home Missions at E"ew York for its 
general work which same shall include all offer- 
ings made directly to the Board of Home Mis- 
sions by the churches of the synod." The plan 
of the Synod of Ohio has worked most success- 
fully and satisfactorily. 

Michigan adopted the self-supporting synodical 
plan in 1901, which went into effect in April, 
1902. The report says : " The synod shall appoint 
annually a permanent synodical committee of 
home missions, whose object shall be to promote 
the organization of Presbyterian churches in the 
synod ; to aid needy churches in support of their 
local ministry ; and to do such other missionary 
work as the necessities of the field may require." 
The committee consists of one minister and one 
elder from each presbytery. The ministerial 
members are the chairmen of the presbyteries' 
home mission committees. Presbyteries elect 
the lay members. An executive committee con- 
sisting of the chairman, vice chairman, and secre- 
tary, elected by the committee with two other 
members constitute an executive committee, 
which committee has power to act for the perma- 
nent committee in the interim of its meetings. 



304 PEESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

" The permanent committee shall have power to 
raise and disburse money for the benefit of the 
missionary work in the synod ; to commission 
general and local missionaries ; to appoint such 
other officers and agents as the needs of the work 
shall require ; and to fix all salaries not otherwise 
provided for ; to fill any vacancy in the commit- 
tee or the officers of synodical missions until the 
next meeting of the synod." Annual meetings 
are held at the time and place of the meetings of 
the synod. Annual reports to the synod and the 
Board of Home Missions are made. On the rec- 
ommendation of the permanent committee the 
synod appoints a synodical missionary. "The 
treasurer of the Board of Home Missions in IS'ew 
York shall be the custodian and treasurer of the 
home missionary funds of the synod." By order 
of the permanent committee he disburses the 
money and reports monthly to the executive 
committee the amount of funds in hands and if 
they are not enough to meet the demands, the 
permanent committee has the power to apportion 
them among the presbyteries. Each presbytery 
is required to make an estimate of its contribu- 
tions and its needs. Churches to be assisted must 
pay at least one-half of the salary and the amount 
given must on the average be five dollars per 
member. They must contribute annually to all 
the Boards. Wherever possible the presbyteries 



THE SYNODS 305 

are expected to group the aid-receiving churches 
together. 

Such a brief review even of the plans and the 
results of synodical home missions cannot but con- 
vince us of their practicability and importance. 
This should be increased by a glance at the gen- 
eral summary of the work of the synods, as given 
in the Home Board's report to the General As- 
sembly in 1901. Michigan is necessarily omitted, 
as it had not yet begun its work in that year. 

The magnitude of synodical home missions 
thus presents itself. This work should appeal to us 
with particular force. The money given is spent 
and the work is done in our own synods, and it 
thus comes a little nearer home. Loyalty to 
home, interest in our immediate neighbors, as 
well as our common interest in missions, should 
lead us to support synodical mission work ; and 
if the work is to be supported to the extent that it 
deserves it can only be done by the faithfulness 
of pastors in presenting the subject intelligently 
and forcibly to their people. In every instance 
where a definite sum per capita is asked for 
synodical work, pastors and sessions should con- 
sider themselves obligated to see that their quota 
is reached. Thus only can one of the most prac- 
ticable, economical, and successful forms of home 
mission work be made effective; and no loyal 
friend of home missions should fail to use his 
voice and influence for its effectiveness. 



306 



PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 



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XII 
SUMMARY 



CHAPTER XII 

SUMMARY 

Having had the history of the home mission 
work of our Church thus pass in review before 
us it may be profitable before leaving the subject 
to " hear the conclusion of the whole matter " so 
far as the arguments for home missions are con- 
cerned. These arguments could only be briefly 
touched upon in the previous review and it will 
not therefore be vain repetition to present them 
in fuller form. What then, are some of the rea- 
sons why every Presbyterian should be interested 
in and earnestly support home missions ? 

1. Christianity should make every Presby- 
terian a home missionary. We cannot as Chris- 
tians escape this position in view of Christ's com- 
mands. His general command was, " Go ye into 
all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
creature," and his specific command declared 
that we were to begin at Jerusalem and Judaea, 
or in other words, at home. Under both these 
commands necessity has been laid upon us, as 
Christians, to be interested in and to support 
home missions. So long as there is one person 

309 



310 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

beneath the American flag who is unevangelized 
this duty rests upon us — and how imperative it is 
then to-day in view of the fact that there are 
millions in our Jerusalem partially unevangelized 
and unsaved. Let them pass in review before 
us— 7,000,000 negroes, 10,250,000 foreigners, 
2,000,000 mountain whites, 300,000 Mexicans, 
300,000 Mormons, 250,000 Indians— and while 
we listen to the stately tread of these passing 
millions let us hear the voice of Christ saying 
unto us, " Beginning at Jerusalem " " preach the 
gospel to every creature." Such an argument is 
invincible and should arouse us to the greatest 
missionary enthusiasm. 

2. Denominationalism should make every 
Presbyterian a home missionary. The Presby- 
terian Church has always been a missionary 
church and peculiar missionary ties bind us to 
most of our home mission fields. Who can read 
Presbyterian history in its relation to the In- 
dians and not feel a renewed interest in Indian 
missions ? Our Church was the pioneer mission 
Church in Alaska, in Utah, in ISTew Mexico, and 
in Porto Eico. The first Protestant church 
building erected in Porto Eico was a Presby- 
terian church. These facts should specially in- 
terest us as Presbyterians in the evangelization 
of these people. And what shall be said of the 
tie that binds us to the mountain people of the 



SUMMAEY 311 

South ? What human tie, what denominational 
tie, could be stronger ? They are " Presbyterian 
true blue." Their ancestors trod the sacred soil 
of Presbyterian Scotland or the historic part of 
the Emerald Isle, dear to the hearts of Presby- 
terians. How could a Presbyterian read the 
origin and history of these needy millions and 
not feel a thrill of interest in home missions, 
as related to them ? and what Presbj'-terian is 
not interested in the Great West and its future 
possibilities ? Thus our denominationalism adds 
its testimony to that of Christianity in favor of 
home missions. 

3. Patriotism should make every Presbyterian 
a home missionary. These millions of people 
are in our land ; they are here to stay ; they are 
here to affect our country for good or for ill. 
Their possibilities for one or the other are great. 
In the future character and activity of these peo- 
ples the very life of the nation is involved. 
Grave political problems are presented in many 
of these populations. Indian affairs present a 
vexed political question. The Mormon problem 
is one that may develop great danger in days to 
come. No graver political and social problem 
confronts us than that of the negro question in 
the South. And what shall be said of the per- 
plexities of foreign immigration and foreign pop- 
ulations and the masses of illiterate and un- 



312 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

evangelized immigrants ? And the Great West — 
from a national standpoint how vital is its evan- 
gelization ! What will be the outcome of these 
problems we cannot predict ; but we do know 
that the sooner these various populations are 
Christianized, the sooner will it be made plain 
that they are to be a national blessing and not a 
national curse, a beneficent influence and not a 
harmful one. 

Thus we can see what a close relation missions 
bear to patriotism ; and Presbyterians have al- 
ways been patriotic. At every great crisis in our 
national history the Presbyterian Church has 
been a loyal supporter of the Government. No 
other denomination exerted a stronger influence 
in bringing about our national independence and 
no other has been more patriotic since. The 
only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was John Witherspoon, and as he 
signed that historic document he said : " Al- 
though these gray hairs must soon descend into 
the sepulcher, I would infinitely rather they 
should descend thither at the hand of the exe- 
cutioner than desert, at this crisis, the sacred 
cause of my country." Such to-day should be 
the sentiment of every Presbyterian. As pa- 
triots we should be willing to make sacrifices 
for our land ; and if the sacrifice demanded is 
that of service and benevolence in the evangel i- 



SUMMAEY 313 

zation of our land rather than death on the bat- 
tlefield or the sacrifice of possessions in time of 
war, should it be less enthusiastically given? 
No one should say so. Patriotism, therefore, 
joins hands with Christianity and denomination- 
alism in favor of home missions. 

4. World-wide evangelism should make every 
Presbyterian a home missionary. This argu- 
ment has been fully developed in the chapter on 
the Great West and need only be referred to 
here. If it be true that America is to have an 
influence on the evangelization of the world, it 
necessarily follows that the sooner America is 
evangelized the sooner this will also be true of 
the world. Therefore every Presbyterian who 
earnestly desires the salvation of the whole world, 
in accordance with Christ's command, should be 
interested in home missions. America must first 
be won for Christ before Africa, China, Japan, 
and the Isles of the sea, can be fully won for him, 
and therefore all who are interested in the Chris- 
tianization of these races should be primarily in- 
terested in the winning of our own land for 
Christ. 

5. Commercialism should make every Pres- 
byterian a home missionary. We are living in 
a business age of the history of the world. Our 
times demand results before everything else. 
The test of success is involved in the answer to 



314 PEESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

the question, Does it pay ? This commercial test 
has been applied to the cause of missions. The 
question is frequently asked, Do missions pay ? 
And it is a matter of satisfaction that even upon 
such a sorbid basis as commercialism we may 
argue in favor of missions. The world's indebt- 
edness to missions cannot be disputed. Missions 
have made large contributions to the world's 
science, commerce, and civilization. In most un- 
developed countries and continents the mission- 
aries have opened up the way for commerce and 
civilization. If evangelical and spiritual results 
be omitted, the money spent for Christian mis- 
sions has been the best paying investment in the 
world's history for nineteen centuries. As much 
can also be said for home missions in our own 
land. They have paid in the political, educa- 
tional, social and commercial development of the 
nation. Patriotism has been developed hand in 
hand with piety. Great numbers of our univer- 
sities, colleges, and schools, have had their origin 
in the frontier log houses of the missionary. 
Here social life has centered and, following in the 
missionary's path, commercial life has been ex- 
tended. Strike out the influence of the home 
missionary in the development of our land and it 
becomes a desert waste, — give this influence its 
place and " the desert rejoices and blossoms as 
the rose." A missionary saved Oregon to our 



SUMMARY 315 

Government. Our missionaries have done more 
than our armies in developing civilization among 
the Indians. They have kept pace with the 
march of population from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, from Porto Kico, the western island of 
the Antilles, to Alaska, the land of the midnight 
sun, — and everywhere have exercised an influence 
that, in terms of commercialism, is simply incal. 
culable. But best of all, home missions have 
paid and are paying to-day as never before in 
moral and spiritual results — in advancing Christ's 
kingdom on earth, in winning the souls of men 
into it and in preparing them for eternal life be- 
yond the grave. If one soul is of more value 
than the whole world, as Christ declares, of what 
infinite value is the work of home missions in 
that they have led to the saving of thousands of 
souls. Only by doubting Christ's estimate of the 
soul's value can we doubt the infinite value of 
home missions. 

Presbyterian missions in particular have yielded 
and are yielding to-day rich spiritual dividends. 
Presbyterianism in a half century has organized 
and developed two thousand churches beyond 
the Mississippi Eiver. In its first century's 
work it organized or aided 6,500 churches. Place 
the average year's service in these 6,500 churches 
at fifty years, — set the average number of souls 
saved in each one at but ten a year, and the 



316 PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSIONS 

stupendous result is 3,250,000 saved souls as a re- 
sult of Presbyterian home missions ! If one 
soul is worth more than the whole world who 
can ask if Presbyterian missions pay, in view of 
3,250,000 souls saved in a century ! Then add to 
this the value of missions along other spiritual 
lines, — the strengthening of the tempted, the 
comforting of the afflicted, the supporting of the 
dying, the transformation of homes, the redemp- 
tion of communities and the uplifting of entire 
peoples and populations — in the face of such a 
review who can doubt that commercialism adds 
its testimony with Christianism, denominational- 
ism, patriotism, and world-wide evangelism, in 
favor of home missions ? 

It is the Judgment Day. We stand beside the 
throne of God, while patriarchs and prophets, the 
saints and the redeemed of all the centuries, pass 
in review before him, and like a mighty army 
comes our long array of home missionaries, each 
one bringing his sheaves with him ; — saved souls, 
redeemed lives, the lost sheep of the House of 
God and the precious lambs that were kept from 
straying. They lay them down at the Master's 
feet. There is great joy ! For not one but thou- 
sands of souls have repented and are saved, and 
this is the crowning act in the missionary's labors 
and with that picture before us let us as Chris- 
tians, as Presbyterians, as patriots, reconsecrate 



SUMMAEY 317 

ourselves in sympathy, in prayers, in service, in 
gifts, to the great and glorious cause of home 
missions. If we will do that then his kingdom 
shall be hastened and the glorious vision of our 
beloved secretary of the Home Mission Board 
shall be nearer realization, a consummation de- 
voutly to be wished : — 

" In vision I can see here the temple of the 
latter days. Across its velvet prairie floors, 
down all its Gothic forest aisles, from all its 
mountain galleries — east and west — happy and 
triumphant millions lift their chants of praise. 

* Our Father's God to thee 
Author of liberty, 
To thee we sing. ' 

A thousand streams down hillsides and valleys 
ring accordant bells — from AUeghanies to Sierras, 

Wind — that grand old harper ~ 
Smites his thunder-harp of pines ' — 

while the two ocean organs roll their diapasons 
down the shores — stately accompaniments of this 
chant : — 

* Lift up your heads, O ye gates ; 
And be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors : 
And the King of glory shall come in. ' 

And the nations will hear, and over the white 
lips of the peoples 



318 PRESBYTEEIAN HOME MISSIONS 

* Full of the spirit's melancholy 
And eternity's despair ' 

will come the antiphonal, 

* Who is this King of glory? ' 

And then over the velvet prairie floors, down 
Gothic forest aisles, from bending mountain gal- 
leries, a redeemed nation will lift its shout, while 
rivers ring their silver bells, and harps of pines 
resound, and ocean organs thunder — 

' The Lord of hosts, 
He is the King of glory.' " 



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